The Station Strangler terrorised the Cape Flats from 1986 to 1994.22 boys were found face down in shallow sandy graves, their hands tied behind their backs and bearing the signs of having been sodomised. The killer used the same method of luring the young boys from video shops and game arcades to train stations.

Eventually the police captured a Western Cape school teacher Norman Afzal Simons and charged him with the murder of the last of the boys to be found, nine-year-old Elino Sprinkle.

His three-month trial followed in 1995, which saw him sentenced to 25 years for murder and 10 years for kidnapping Elroy.

In 1998 the Bloemfontein High Court of Appeal rejected Simons’s appeal and increased his sentence to life imprisonment.

Now 11 years later, Simons is back in the dock following an inquest into the deaths of the other boys.

When Simons was first caught, South Africa breathed a sigh of relief and when convicted, we were all sure that the cops had got their man. But the latest inquest has raised a number of questions in my mind, particularly in light of the recent court case of Fred van der Vyver.

I must be up front here and say that I do not know all the details of the original trial, but am only picking up on facts which are presented at this inquest.

The Confession

Hearing the testimony of Michael Barkhuizen of the police’s murder and robbery branch who took the confessions is quite disturbing. Particularly so when he was cross-questioned by Natasha Simons for the state.
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The television news special on the Inge Lotz murder and the fabrication of evidence against Fred van der Vyver will be broadcast this Sunday. The name of the news program is Carte Blanche. This press release is by the program producer:

SUNDAY SEPT 14

FORENSICS

Stellenbosch student Inge Lotz died more than 3 years ago, but the mystery of who killed her still lingers on. Although her boyfriend Fred van der Vyver was acquitted of her murder, litigation is far from over. Lotz’s parents have brought a civil action against Fred and he, in turn, is suing the state for wrongful arrest. Carte Blanche heads off to an international forensics conference in the US, where the SAPS alleged fabrication of evidence was a major talking point.

Presenter: Bongani Bingwa
Producer: Eugene Botha

The program will air on Sunday, local time in South Africa 7:00 p.m., on the Satellite Channel MNet.

Pat A. Wertheim
Crime Laboratory
Tucson, AZ

Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans’ Association has now come out to say that there will be civil war in our country if Zuma is found guilty. They have said very clearly that a legal defeat for ANC president Jacob Zuma “will not be tolerated”. I am sick and tired of these people!

How dare these people attempt to undermine the law of the land! How dare they threaten the safety and security of the people of South Africa! How dare they attempt to blackmail the judge and the citizens of South Africa!

Once again we see the total arrogance and defiance of law from the ANC and its minions. These threats are illegal in this country and should not be tolerated, but as usual they will merely be ignored by the ruling party.

This is exactly what happened in Zimbabwe and should be nipped in the bud NOW. Mugabi has for years had his ZANU-PF goons being his private second army. They do as they please with total disregard for the law. Is that what we want in our country?

The ANC leadership should be culling these elements from the party - from both the ANCYL, the ANCWL and MKMVA. The problem is that they are too scared to do anything about it. They know that they will not survive if they stood up for what is right and just.

These people that call for violence, public disorder and flout the constitution and law of the land should be arrested and tried. We have no place in our society for these narrow-minded, militant fools.

Zuma as the leader should be standing up against these actions. He should be supporting the rule of law in South Africa. Yet he sits idly by, basking in his newfound glory! If he was a man of any integrity, he would be denouncing these people in no uncertain terms!

If this madness is allowed to prevail now, then our country is heading directly for a Zimbabwe-like situation where the laws of the country count for little and we sit with a power-hungry dictator who holds on to power through terror and intimidation. We are seeing a glimpse of our future in South Africa and I don’t like it one little bit!