The Raseroka family is calling on Police Minister Bheki Cele, Justice Minister Ronald Lamola and the National Director of Public Prosecutions Shamila Batohi to intervene in the murder case of their family member after investigations and police updates on the killing dried up.
The deceased, Sydney Mokgathi Raseroka, an official at the Makapanstad police station, was found dead by his wife’s uncle in Garankuwa, northwest of Pretoria, in 2017. He had been missing for a couple of days.
It was reported that his car had been stolen and subsequently sold. The individual responsible for selling the stolen vehicle is currently serving a 15-year prison sentence.
Speaking to Sunday World over numerous interviews, family representatives Gladys Maponya and Ernest Raseroka said the family has tried on multiple occasions to obtain information on the progress of the case from police, as well as the office of the minister and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). This was at the time when Fikile Mbalula was the ANC Secretary General.
Their requests for assistance were futile, and they were left feeling disillusioned with the justice system.
In November 2022, the family wrote to Batohi’s office informing her that they were unsatisfied with the proceedings concerning the case at the Pretoria High Court, citing several issues they had identified.
“As the family of Raseroka, we had been denied justice for far too long, the delay has taken a toll on the family now that the matter has been enrolled. We were hoping for justice to punish the perpetrators even though our beloved will not come back, the latest developments in court diminished our hope for justice, yet we were still praying that justice prevails so that the family may have closure. What we saw in court amazed us,” they said.
Among the issues listed in the letter, which Sunday World has seen, they noted that a family member had asked the state prosecutor if a certain Tshepo Talane would be summoned for cross-examination regarding the deceased’s stolen car found in his possession.
However, a certain prosecutor, Mashile, who was handling the case, claimed she had nothing to do with Talane and blamed the arresting officers for mishandling the case.
The family representative also inquired about the reading of the original statement for accused number one, but according to them, Mashile deemed it unnecessary as his testimony would replicate it.
The family also raised concerns about suspicious meetings between the investigating officers having private meetings with the witnesses and other accused outside of court.
According to the family, the cause of death is not yet clear, as a certain drug was found in Sydney’s his body. They made allegations that a certain investigating officer tampered with the post-mortem report and added that the deceased was also strangled.
“During cross-examination, the pathologist revealed that 0.29% alcohol and a drug were found [in his system]. However, the senior prosecutor ordered the pathologist to add ‘strangling’ as another cause of death,” the family said.
“The ethical implications of this approach in medicine are questionable, as the doctor had already determined the cause of death during the post-mortem in 2017 and was now being told to add a new cause that they did not initially discover.
“The pathologist, under cross-examination, said she never saw any physical injuries and struggling that could have been the cause of death.
“In the case trial, a lot of concrete evidence has been excluded, which the family possesses. This includes video footage from Leitlho la Sechaba on TV, the accused buying clothes with the deceased’s [bank] cards, the withdrawal of the deceased’s February 2017 salary, and [evidence of] medical malpractice,” they added.
The family said they have exhausted all their options, hence they are calling on the ministers to assist. They even went as far as trying to obtain the court transcripts in order to make sense of the case.
They said they are currently living in fear as they have been threatened several times to refrain from “interfering with the investigations”.
Despite attempting to engage with the police and the NPA to gain an understanding of the case and seek justice for their brother, the family feels that the state has failed to support them adequately.
The family has expressed its wish to communicate directly with Batohi, Lamola, and Cele, as they believe these officials can provide concrete clarity and accountability.
“The deceased’s mother was called by someone telling her to tell her children to stop interfering with the investigation. Imagine threatening an 85-year-old woman?
“We have tried to reason with the police and the NPA to help us understand the contents of this case and ensure that we get justice for our brother, but they are failing us. The state is failing our family.
“Right now, we do not want to hear anything from anyone, we want to deal directly with Batohi, Lamola, and Cele. They should be able to call us for a meeting and explain to us how and why they are failing one of their own. Sydney was a police officer; you would expect that the state would prioritise his case, but no, they are giving us the run around,” the family said.
The NPA failed to respond to questions sent by Sunday World.
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