Magistrate lashes cops in Giddy case

The justice system has failed the family of UCT student Dominic Giddy, who was stabbed to death for his cellphone two years ago, his father has said.

And Cape Town Regional Court magistrate Jan van Zyl, who acquitted the three men for a lack of evidence against them, has questioned the work of police on the case.

He has urged that a copy of his judgment be sent to provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Arno Lamoer and the Community Safety MEC Dan Plato for scrutiny.

In an interview with the Cape Argus, Giddy’s father, Patrick, said

: “This has been a bad process and there has been no good outcome anyway. The system has failed us. The police are under too much pressure, they have too many cases (to investigate) and the state is not able to cope.”

Giddy, 22, was killed on February 13, 2010, when he and friends Daniel Martin, 23, and Pieter Slabbert, 22, were accosted by three knife-wielding men while walking to Giddy’s home in Observatory.

He was stabbed to death.

Zukisani Songwaku, Simphiwe Ngoma and Bongani Matano were charged with murder, aggravated robbery, attempted murder and assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm.

The trio denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty.

Two weeks ago, Van Zyl discharged Matano at the end of the State’s case, finding that there was insufficient evidence against him.

The only evidence linking the remaining two to the case was that Songwaku had used Giddy’s cellphone 17 minutes after the murder and that Ngoma had put Giddy’s SIM card into his phone. Van Zyl said there was no direct evidence against the men and that Giddy’s friends could not identify their attackers.

The circumstantial evidence before the court was not enough to ensure a guilty verdict as all other inferences about what may have happened that night, and how the men had come into possession of Giddy’s phone, were not ruled out.

Van Zyl said that based on the strength of the evidence, he could not convict the men of the crimes.

“There are indications that (Songwaku and Ngoma) were involved, but I am not in a position, according to law, to rule out (other possibilities).

“If there isn’t necessary evidence before me, I cannot take it further than that,” he said.

In his judgment, Van Zyl questioned why a senior police officer was not assigned to investigate the murder.

“This is the most serious case and one cannot help but wonder why an experienced investigator wasn’t tasked by SAPS to do the investigations in the case. A copy of this judgment should be distributed to the commissioner of Saps and the minister of community safety for their attention.”

“It is heartbreaking to realise that a young man, at the beginning of his life and career, was attacked by three hooligans at night… The court’s condolences goes out to (Giddy’s) parents and family. I am convinced everyone present in this courtroom feels for them,” Van Zyl said.

UCT had come out in support of the Giddy family and had held various protests and vigils in his memory.

“Giddy was a third-year BSocSci (Bachelor of Social Science) student at the time of his stabbing and was on the threshold of a pivotal time in his life. UCT, his family and South Africa have been robbed of a talented individual whom we expected to have made an important contribution to our society,” the university’s spokeswoman, Gerda Kruger, said.

Since Giddy’s murder and that of another student and two professors, the university have improved security in and around the campus.

“We have established the Safety and Violence Initiative as a university-based research collaboration to raise awareness about these issues, enable researchers to engage with each other across disciplinary boundaries, and help build national and international networks between academics, civil society and public sectors,” Kruger said.

‘I want evil countered’

The following is an extract from a letter written by Dominic Giddy’s father, Patrick to UCT:

I’m glad it’s over. And also that it took so long – we realised soon after a few court appearances that the real resolution was our own, in our own hands, and in the hands of our friends and family, Dominic’s mother, his sister, two brothers and all the others. I have got to know the faces of these figures in court, who represent one’s worst nightmare. I’ve seen an ex-girlfriend of one of the accused full of integrity, and others from Langa High School giggle and laugh in court. I cannot speak for these characters.

Do I want retribution?

I want what is criminal and evil to be faced and countered. I want a better society, with good people, not criminals. I want fathers and mothers and their children to be good. I want a society that is well-policed.

I’ve seen what I judge is a pretty dysfunctional police system and justice system.

Dominic was a most sensitive, kind, forgiving soul. This death helped move the city and the university to do more for safety.

We pray for a deep reconciliation and acceptance. Death is our end. This death brings home to us how lovely Dominic’s life was. How bad our society is. It’s not what it’s meant to be. People must have jobs. And security.

We’ve been hugely helped by friends and family in Cape Town. I’m in Durban and Dominic’s mother lives now in Boston, US.

Dominic was baptised at St Mary’s Nyanga and grew up in Lesotho. He was full of sympathy for the poor. His godfather at his baptism was John O’Leary, attorney in Cape Town, who has helped us through the trial at the many court appearances. UCT has also assigned someone, Vivian Warby. Dominic was beginning to show real talent in his original guitar compositions, which we loved. For his two brothers and his sister we’ll always have him in our hearts.”

jade.witten@inl.co.za

Cape Argus