Tshwarelo Hunter Mogakane
Pretoria - The ANC in Mpumalanga has called on the police to arrest the armed men who shot and killed a German tourist along the R538 road towards the Kruger National Park’s Numbi Gate in Hazyview this week.
On Wednesday, Police Minister General Bheki Cele said three persons of interest had been identified and taken in for questioning regarding the murder of the 67-year-old tourist.
Four German tourists arrived in the country on September 20 and stayed in Cape Town for four nights and five days before visiting Durban, where they stayed four days and three nights.
They then went to the Drakensberg for two nights before travelling 600km to Mpumalanga on Monday, where the fatal incident happened.
Cele announced the developments in the case during his ministerial visit to the crime scene, where he interacted with witnesses and community members on Wednesday afternoon.
He was accompanied by national police commissioner General Fannie Masemola, provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela and MEC for Community Safety, Security and Liaison Vusi Shongwe.
“The tourism sector is highly contested and is the bread and butter of millions of households in this province and other parts of the country. This is why it must be guarded jealously by all of us including communities and we simply cannot let such callous acts go unpunished.
“This is why it is highly encouraging to see police in this province move with agility to find those responsible for this crime,” said Cele.
The minister’s spokesperson, Lirandzu Themba, said three suspects were in custody, but not yet charged.
“The trio in police custody are said to be co-operating with investigators. While police continue to follow up closely on strong leads in the murder investigation, the ministry calls on the police to speedily make arrests to restore public confidence and ensure the law takes its course,” said Themba.
According to the ministry, between April and June, Mpumalanga recorded 11 common robbery incidents involving tourists. Only two suspects have been charged and are “undergoing court processes”.
A multi-pronged approach is expected to “holistically eliminate crime” within the Numbi hot spot, where tourists are often targeted, Themba added.
“Minister Cele… has committed to engaging his Cabinet colleagues responsible for tourism and transport to put in place a joint co-ordinated response against tourism crime.
“The response should be both reactive and proactive. It should bring together national and local government and public and private tourism role-players to urgently combine resources and efforts to deal with causative factors of some of these crimes taking place in and around the Masoyi policing area,” she said.
ANC provincial leader Mandla Ndlovu labelled the murder “bad news” for tourism, and called for swift action.
“The perpetrators must be arrested and be denied bail until they have faced trial for the murder of the tourist. Once found guilty, they must be handed harsh sentences,” said Ndlovu.
Yesterday, Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu met the family members (of the tourists) before their departure to Germany.
“I would like to again convey my heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the tourist killed in this incident. I also call on law enforcement agencies to leave no stone unturned in bringing the perpetrators of the crime to book,” said Sisulu.
Pretoria News