A 1 million rand reward has been put on offer to anyone that will lead to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the murder of slain detective Lieutenant Colonel Charl Kinnear.

Speaking on the VOC Breakfast Beat show on Monday morning, Founding member of the United Public Safety Front, John Cloete stated the murder of Kinnear could not have been avoided due to the ruthless way in which the underworld figures operate.

“These people [underworld figures] are merciless if the decision was made to ‘take him out’ it would have been done whether the execution was destined in front of his home or not, it would have happened regardless,” stated Cloete.

Kinnear’s murder is shrouded in questions as  police protection was withdrawn inadvertently.

“The assessment and request for protection comes from the crime intelligence unit within the south African police services (SAPS) and that is a very important point because they decide at what stage the risk is not apparent or it has increased. They call the shots and they will have to be answerable for this,” stated Cloete.

Cloete further explained even with a million rand reward on the cards, members of the public who were witness to the murder are faced with being killed themselves if they avail information that could lead to conviction.

“Simply put locals do not trust the police and hence we are calling on an independent investigation into the matter because we have experienced cases of police investing their own,” said Cloete.

Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) spokesperson, Richard Mamabolo said the attack called for a sever shift in service.

“It is a great concern that things had played out the way they did and we are urging the police minister to get to the bottom of how and why his [Kinnear] police protection was withdrawn,” stated Mamabolo.

However, despite the murder of Kinnear, National Police Minister Bheki Cele said the province did have adequate policing resources.

Cele said that of the 5,000 new police officers trained in the country last year, 1,120 were from the Western Cape.

The police minister visited both the Kinnear family and – family who were both gunned down last week. Cele called for better collaboration within law enforcement.

“For us, up to this point, we believe that we are adequate. We just need to work together, coordinate, cooperate better between the province, national and the city. That is what we were trying to do, hence we were here last week, trying to harness all our resources which will give us better results,” stated Cele.

Speaking to the media outside of the family home, Cele said some officers who had worked on anti-gang operations with slain detective Charl Kinnear had also received death threats.

“He wasn’t the only one to receive threats. I’ll address that when I’m out of the media. I cannot address that here in front of you [the media],” said Cele.

Cele offered the Kinnear’s family protection if it was needed.

VOC