“Our wounds will never heal as long as we don’t get closure about what happened,” Seleke Senoge, the father of one of the three Free State police officers who died on their way to Limpopo told Sunday World yesterday.
The three officers whose bodies were retrieved from the Hennops River in Centurion, Pretoria, six days after their disappearance, were buried this week in separate funerals.
Constable Boipelo Senoge was the first one to be buried in Bloemfontein on Thursday, while constable Cebekhulu Linda was buried on Friday, and yesterday, constable Keamogetswe Buys was laid to rest in Thaba Nchu.
In the three moving funerals held in Bloemfontein on different days, the Free State premier Maqueen Letsoha-Mathae, MEC of police in the province, Jabu Mbalula, alongside police minister Senzo Mchunu, his deputy Polly Boshielo and the national police commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola attended and paid their last respects to the young police officers.
Senoge’s father told Sunday World that the family was shattered. “We are not fine at all as a family. We buried our child, and we still need answers to get to understand what really led to her and her colleagues’ death. We have given the SAPS a week to tell us what happened. We do not know if it was an accident or if they were hijacked. Our wounds will never heal as long as we don’t get a closure about what happened,” said Seleke.
He said that Senoge was his last-born and that she would have celebrated her 25th birthday on May 4, a few days after she was found dead in the Hennops River.
“Boipelo was a great friend and daughter of mine. She was a breadwinner in the family, as she did everything for us as a family. Her death has hit us very hard, and we believe that one day the truth will come out. We are still looking for answers as nothing is making sense right now. We were told the post-mortem was made, but the police did not give us results, stating that they are still investigating,” said Seleke.
Buys’ cousin, Lawrence Masia said the family was still trying to come to terms with the death of the young policewoman.
“Keamogetswe had a bright future ahead, and she was just starting her career and had just gotten married and had a three-year-old son, whom she had now left behind. It’s painful indeed and we are still trying to get to understand what happened. We still have many questions that we need answers to, and so far, we are told that preliminary investigations reveal that our loved ones died of an accident, as they were found in that river. We are in pain, and we hope that we will get to know what led to the death of our loved ones.”
National police spokesperson, Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said the three police officers had been in the police force for just two years. Linda and Buys were attached to crime intelligence and deployed at Operation Vala Umgodi, which deals with the closure of illegal mines and zama zamas, while Senoge was working at Parkweg police station in Bloemfontein.
“No foul play as yet; case of culpable homicide is registered,” said Mathe.
