“To date, no arrests have been made in connection with my
son’s death and I wonder if the South African Police Service cares at all. I
haven’t been communicated to, regarding how the investigations are going. All I
am left with are wounds in my heart.”
Those are the chilling words of Emilia Zindi, the grieving
mother of slain Zimbabwean journalist Mike Chimombe, 37, who was shot dead in
Cape Town in June.
At the time of his death, the Harare Polytechnic media
school graduate, Chimombe, was not attached to any media house in South Africa
but was writing a book. To make ends meet, Chimombe was also working as a cab
driver.
Chimombe was fatally shot along Tsaris Street, in Delft.
Police say his lifeless body was discovered next to his Toyota Corolla - a version
highly disputed by the family.
“The statement given by the police, that his body was found
next to his car was totally misleading as the car was found kilometres away
from the scene," said Zindi, who spoke to African News Agency by telephone
from Zimbabwe.
"My heart bleeds as I lost not only a son but a father
of three whose first child is in form one [Grade 8 equivalent] this year with
his second-born child and last child doing grade seven and four
respectively," lamented Zindi.
"He was indeed a responsible son who was working for
his kids as he would send fees as well as clothing etc for his family. Being a
journalist himself, Mike was in the process of writing a book entitled 'Guns
and South Africans, who is to blame?'
"He even told me at one point that it looks like guns
are sold to anyone without processes of questioning why one would need a gun as
is the case here in Zimbabwe”.
Zindi - a retired Zimbabwean veteran journalist who is now
into farming - said she continues to mourn the death of his first child.
“I am wondering how on earth a country such as South
Africa, which is viewed in Europe as one of the most developed African
countries has such high incidences of crime, and worse, the killings of
innocent people by guns with no arrests at all," said Zindi
"How on earth can a country with the rule of law, as
it is perceived, fail to account for guns which are supposed to be registered
with owners known?”
Zindi said she has been left with the massive
responsibility of taking care of Chimombe’s family “at a time our [Zimbabwean]
economy is in a nose dive”.
The South African Police Service in Western Cape are yet to
respond to requests for updates from the African News Agency.
Soon after the shooting - two months ago - Western Cape
provincial police spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Andrè Traut, told African
News Agency that the murder of Chimombe was being probed.
"On Sunday [June 2] at 20:10 a man, who is believed to
be a taxi driver, was shot and killed in Tsaris Street, in Delft [Cape Town] by
an unknown suspect who is yet to be arrested. His body was discovered next to
his Toyota Corolla," Traut said at the time.
"The circumstances surrounding the incident are being
investigated. The motive is unknown, however robbery is not ruled out.”
Chimombe's body was repatriated from South Africa to
Zimbabwe, where he was buried.
Although the Consulate of the Republic of Zimbabwe says on
its website that, "no body shall be repatriated to Zimbabwe without
clearance from the Consulate" it remained unclear as to what, if any,
assistance Zindi could expect in securing justice for her slain son.
Zimbabwe ambassador to South Africa, David Hamadziripi,
could not be reached for comment.
Last month, SA Police Minister Bheki Cele announced the
deployment of members of the South African National Defence Force to the
streets of crime hotspots in Cape Town following a string of murders in
townships in the city.
This week, according to Western Cape Premier Alan Winde and
Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz, weekend murder statistics for the metro
region have shown an increase from last weekend, but a declining trend from
previous pay day weekends.
Winde said a total of 46 people were murdered over the
weekend, with 21 shootings, 20 stabbings and five murders by other causes,
showing an increase from the 25 murders recorded by the province’s forensics
services last weekend.
He said there were also several reports of shootings in
which residents were injured. Among those shot and injured were two children
aged six and 16.
African News Agency (ANA)
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