New prosecutor appointed to Midrand murder case
A new prosecutor has been assigned to handle the murder case of Midrand husband and father Xolani Kunene, thanks to AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit’s involvement. His family approached the unit after the previous prosecutor allegedly tried to persuade them to accept a plea from murder-accused Buhle Lebohang Mabaso, which would have resulted in him being convicted of culpable homicide and paying R750 000 in compensation. The family’s complaints to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) also went unanswered.
Mabaso made a brief appearance in the Alexandra Magistrates Court yesterday (17 September) where the matter was postponed to allow his team to appoint an expert to analyse the video footage of the incident. Mabaso is charged with murder for allegedly shooting Kunene several times outside a residential estate in Midrand on 13 August 2022.
The appointment of a new prosecutor follows a letter the Private Prosecution Unit sent to Adv. Andrew Chauke, Gauteng Director of Public Prosecutions on 3 July, in which concerns about the prosecutor, senior advocates in the DPP’s office and the delay in finalising the matter were raised, as well as a failure to communicate with the victims of crime. The NPA’s response was to cite IT and email issues, downplay or dismiss the Kunene family’s concerns.
Sindisiwe Mhlongo, Kunene’s sister, rejected the NPA’s excuses. “We maintain that the prosecutor attempted to influence the family to accept compensation to a point of suggesting that we were very fortunate that an offer of such an amount was being made to us. The prosecutor ignored us at court. The only time we have received any acknowledgment from him was when he wanted to convince us to accept compensation,” she said.
Surveillance footage of the incident depicts two men sitting in a car, as the driver produces a firearm and shoots his passenger several times. While the man lies motionless on the ground, the driver walks around the car and shoots the man again in the head before fleeing in the car. Kunene, a father of two, died at the scene. Mabaso was arrested hours later, allegedly trying to flee Gauteng. He was granted bail a week later.
Barry Bateman, spokesperson for the unit, says Kunene’s family is hopeful the matter will soon go to trial. “While we are encouraged by the appointment of a new prosecutor to the case, the NPA’s failure to understand the gravity and significance of the complaint we sent on behalf of Kunene’s family provides little comfort that another family will not face a similar situation.
“The failure to deal with and respond to allegations of misconduct is part of a broader trend in government. Instead of holding people accountable, they are merely replaced or moved in the hope that the problem will go away. This goes to the heart of the collapse of the criminal justice system, where officials who fail in their duty to victims of crime and society are not investigated and disciplined,” said Bateman.
The matter was postponed to 7 October, 2024.
