Cape Town - The widow of slain top cop Charl Kinnear, Nicolette Kinnear has described the accolade bestowed to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) team, which probed the murder of her husband as “bittersweet”.
The team sacrificed their safety, and stuck to the commitments they made to the family, she told the Cape Times on Monday, after the officers led by Hawks Western Cape head major general Mathipa Makgato bagged the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation Team of the Year at the police national excellence awards in Limpopo at the weekend.
“It's an honour to be recognised nationally and the team feels great about the recognition and will continue to strive towards success in everything we do. Hard work paid off after such a commitment,” said Makgato.
Nicolette Kinnear applauded the officers saying they kept to their commitments to walk with them as a family.
“Their dedication and commitment reminds me of how my husband worked hard. There have been cases he investigated, some have recently seen people being sentenced, so my question will always be where would he have been with all these awards. He was recognised regionally and nationally in the past years so this is bittersweet for us. Initially when we heard the Hawks would be dealing with the investigation I was not happy with that because my husband didn’t trust a lot of people including the Western Cape Hawks. I raised my concerns and then I was informed Mr Makgato would be assigned. They came with the mandate to probe and nobody anticipated what would unfold,” said Kinnear.
She said the team members sacrificed a lot.
Kinnear was assassinated outside his Bishop Lavis home on September 18, 2020.
He was involved in high-profile cases including probing alleged under-world boss Nafiz Modack. The national task team was established to give priority to Kinnear’s murder. A total of 24 suspects were arrested during the investigation.
“As a widow of a detective I understand how the families of this team have been feeling because my husband travelled a lot.
Having your loved one away for two years handling very sensitive cases is no joke. Some people might think it’s still a bit early for me to say this seeing that the trial has not started yet, but I am looking at the length of bail applications alone.
“The work they have done already is sterling. Everyone puts pressure on the investigating team, which has been working hard, but there is the whole justice system that needs to support them and the work they have done. I have told the team before that I don’t take what they are doing for granted because I lost my husband in the line of duty. They have made the decision to stay and go the extra mile,” she said.
She called for the justice system not to only serve justice for them as a family.
“At the end of the day they can investigate but they need the NPA, state prosecutors and the judge to do their bit. We know even in the process of bail applications the magistrate and prosecutor needed protection.
All we pray for is that role players in the justice system do justice. Not just one group... we need to keep praying for safety and boldness,” she said.
National spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said: “The team worked under pressure as this case received global media coverage.
Members of the investigating team received threats on their lives and the lives of their families. Whilst the bail application of Nafiz Modac and Ashley Tabisher was in process, one of the team members had to fly to Pretoria and relocate his family.
“Some of the members were deployed to the Western Cape for 2 years, away from their homes and families, while these threats persisted. These threats were seen as serious as the first investigating officer’s father was murdered albeit of a mistaken identity.
“Lt Col Kinnear was the second investigating officer. Through all the pressure, the team stayed committed and steadfast. The team initially started with one case docket, but as a result of their dedication and commitment, they are now investigating 14 case dockets.”
During the two- year- long investigation, none of the team members allegedly requested overtime remuneration but pursued the investigation with commitment, she said.
Meanwhile the Western Cape police also saw six of their officers victorious and walking away with the national awards in their respective categories.
Western Cape police commissioner Thembisile Patekile congratulated the winners of the respective categories, who he labelled the pride of the province and thanked them for their outstanding performances to make a difference in the lives of the people of the province.
Cape Times