DA adds R500 000 to Ekurhuleni deaths reward as police team takes over

The reward for information on the deaths of several women in Ekurhuleni now stands at R900 000 after the Democratic Alliance pledged to add R500 000 to the amount police had already put up.

Acting National Police Commissioner Puleng Dimpane announced a R400 000 reward on Tuesday night. The DA’s contribution, confirmed in a statement on Wednesday, doubles that figure and adds a second source of money behind the same appeal.

The party said its aim was to strengthen the efforts of law enforcement and to give anyone holding information a reason to come forward now. It said Ekurhuleni could not wait, women could not wait, and justice could not wait.

A team, a reward and more boots

On Tuesday, Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia set out the measures the state has put in place as the investigations continue. A high-level multidisciplinary team has been established to lead the work. Police visibility has been increased through Operation Shanela in Kempton Park and the surrounding areas.

The reward and the team are the two instruments now publicly on the table. The money is aimed at the wall of silence that so often surrounds cases of this kind. The team is aimed at the investigative capacity behind it.

The DA’s offer is unusual in that it comes from a political party rather than the state. The party framed it as an addition to the work already under way rather than a substitute for it.

What the money is for

A reward of this size is a public appeal for information, not a finding. It does not name a suspect, it does not establish how the women died, and it does not by itself connect any of the cases.

What the record does show is that the state has chosen to treat the deaths as a matter serious enough to justify a senior investigative structure and a cash incentive for the public to talk.

Anyone with information can approach the police directly. The reward is payable for information that assists the investigation, and the terms attached to it are set by the police, not by the party that has added to the pot.

The consequence for families waiting

For the families of the women who have died, the practical effect of the announcement is a larger number attached to the same question they have been asking since each death was reported. That question is whether anyone will be held responsible.

The increased police presence in Kempton Park and the surrounding areas is the part of the response that residents will see first. Operation Shanela is the SAPS high-density operation used to flood an area with officers, roadblocks and searches for a limited period.

Whether the multidisciplinary team produces arrests, and whether those arrests survive prosecution, is the test that will matter. The National Prosecuting Authority decides whether a case goes to court, and the courts decide the outcome.

The Enquirer has asked Gauteng SAPS for the composition of the multidisciplinary team, the number of cases it is examining, and the terms on which the reward is payable.

Source: eNCA, DA offers to add R500K to reward in Ekurhuleni deaths probe