Police investigate link to 2010 matter
A state witness in the Zimbabwe rendition case has allegedly been murdered while under witness protection.
According to sources close to the matter, Shepherd Tshuma, one of the two remaining witnesses, was found dead by a caretaker on Saturday two weeks ago, after allegedly being flung off a balcony of the third floor of a safe house.
The Zimbabwean national had been under witness protection since 2011 after he and Maqhawe Sibanda alleged that they were illegally kidnapped by former Gauteng Hawks head Shadrack Sibiya and his colleague, Hawks colonel Cowboy Maluleke, to be sent back to Zimbabwe to face a murder charge.
They were suspects in the murder of a senior Zimbabwean police detective, Lawrence Chatikobo, in Bulawayo.
The witnesses were arrested by crime intelligence officers in Diepsloot in November 2010. However, things took a different turn when they laid complaints with IPID, stating that they were kidnapped by the Hawks.
Their case was later used in the suspension of Hawks top cops Anwa Dramat and Sibiya for their alleged involvement in the alleged illegal rendition. Sibiya and Dramat have since been cleared of all charges relating to the ma er and the charges were provisionally withdrawn by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
Despite these developments, Tshuma and Sibanda remained under witness protection. Sunday World has also learnt that the police are still waiting to conduct a post-mortem and that his body has not been released to his family for burial.
Tshuma’s sister, Priscilla, confirmed her brother’s death and that the family was waiting for his body to be released by the government.
“We don’t know when he will be buried. They said they are still doing a post-mortem to find out what killed him,” she said.
“All we were told is that he had died. That’s all we know.”
The sources said it was not clear whether Tshuma’s alleged murder was connected to the rendition case, but said the police noted they were investigating.
NPA spokesperson Sipho Ngwema confirmed the incident but said it had happened far away from the safe custody of the witness protection programme and had no link with the rendition case.
“The incident is under police investigation and we are, therefore, unable to assist with developments in that respect. The programme is interacting with the family and is assisting with regards to the relevant arrangements and costs,” said Ngwema.
