Booysen and colleagues should answer to taxi association killing allegations: Mashaile

Security Strategist and retired Interpol Ambassador Andy Mashaile says it’s never too late to bring to book former KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Major General Johan Booysen and his former colleagues to answer for their alleged hidden past atrocities.

The members of the Cato Manor Violent Crime Unit have been accused of killing members of the Kwa- Maphumulo Taxi Association between 2008 and 2012.

Most of the attacks and murders occurred during illegal arrests of the suspects.

Former IPID Investigator Inspector Sharmilla Williams told the Nkabinde Enquiry in Pretoria that former IPID Executive Director Robert McBride discouraged her from pursuing racketeering charges and perusing the evidence she had gathered against the unit.

The Nkabinde Enquiry is probing the fitness of suspended South Gauteng Director of Public Prosecutions Advocate Andrew Chauke to hold office.

Chauke’s role in pursuing racketeering charges against the Cato Manor Unit outside of his jurisdiction and with scant evidence is subject of an enquiry chaired by retired Constitutional Court Justice Bess Nkabinde.

Mashaile elaborates, “Legally reinstating the 2008 or 2009 charges is still possible in principle if new evidence or procedural irregularities are established. Although the passage of time, evidentiary challenges and witness availability could complicate prosecutions, even so reopening the matter could still serve an important purpose for justice. It may offer to the families of victims and help restore public confidence in the rule of law.”