Sunday, 23 March 2025

SLAIN COP'S FAMILY GIVES ZRP ULTIMATUM

The family of the late Detective Constable Cassandra Hove, who was killed by a colleague while reportedly pursuing armed robbers, has engaged the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights to address their concerns with the police.

The family, which has been very vocal over the matter, is also accusing authorities of handling Hove’s death in an unprofessional and obscure manner.

Hove’s father, Mr Chikauriso Hove, told Chronicle that he engaged ZLHR to demand clarity over the circumstances.

ZLHR last week served police with a seven-day ultimatum to provide tangible details about the incident.

Copies of the letter were also sent to the Officer in Charge  of Pumula Police Station, the Officer Commanding Bulawayo Province, ZRP Commissioner-General Stephen Mutamba and Home Affairs Minister, Kazembe Kazembe.

ZLHR also quizzed the actions of the late Hove’s colleague identified as Lethokuhle Sibanda, who reportedly completed forms authorising a post-mortem without consulting the family.

“The family is alarmed at the allegations raised about the conduct of one Lethokuhle Sibanda, who had reportedly completed some forms authorising the carrying out of a post-mortem on the body of the deceased person without consulting her family,” read a statement from ZLHR.

The family further alleged that Sibanda visited Cassandra’s home after her death, demanding details about her property and mobile phones from her children.

“After Cassandra had been shot, the same Sibanda visited the deceased person’s residence, where she found the late law enforcement agent’s children and demanded certain information about her residential properties and demanded her mobile phones, but her children refused to comply after getting guidance from their relatives,” said ZLHR.

Mr Hove alleges Sibanda received R3 000 from Luveve residents as a funeral contribution but did not hand it over to the family.

Another concern raised by the family is the arrest of a suspected armed robber, who the team was reportedly in pursuit of.

“The family had also received information that a suspect, named Fikile Ncube, had been arrested by ZRP officers on the night when Cassandra died in connection with her death, but this information was not  communicated to the family or her relatives,” ZLHR said.

During a meeting with ZRP officials on March 8, the family was told that Hove was reportedly shot with a police-issued firearm.

“On March 8 2025, Mr Hove said he attended a meeting together with his relatives with the Officer In Charge of CID Homicide in Bulawayo and other ZRP officers, where he was informed that the preliminary findings were that his daughter had been shot by a police-issued firearm, contrary to what the family had been told before,” ZLHR said.

Police are yet to release further information regarding the case but police Commissioner-General Stephen Mutamba has ordered a comprehensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding Hove’s death, assuring the family that no stone will be left unturned. Chronicle

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