A father in anguish

“I have been in the police force for more than 30 years. I have seen far worse than what I saw that terrible Saturday morning. But this, I cannot accept. My son is gone.”
Bongani Xulu is a broken man.
On Thursday morning Xulu, a SAPS colonel at Nkandla, attended the second court appearance of the man who allegedly killed his son, student constable Thobani Xulu.
Thobani’s colleague constable S’busiso Mthethwa was also killed in the ambush on the R74 on Saturday morning, February 1, believed to have been arranged by lieutenant colonel Tholumuzi Mokoena (‘Cop arrested for murder’, Courier, February 7).
Mokoena (53) was in the vehicle with Xulu, Mthethwa and a clerk when they allegedly stopped to investigate a suspicious red vehicle parked on the R74 early on Saturday morning, February 1. It is alleged that three unknown men emerged from a nearby bush and fired shots at the vehicle.
The clerk was asleep and was woken up by the gunshots, when he discovered his colleagues dead in the front seat.
The Courier spoke to Xulu shortly after the case against Mokoena was postponed in the KwaDukuza magistrates’ court to February 27, giving him time to find legal representation.
Since Mokoena is apparently still being paid by the SAPS he does not qualify for legal aid and will have to pay for his own attorney.
Xulu was initially withdrawn but when told he bore a striking resemblance to his son he broke into a sad smile, saying he would speak to the media not as a police officer, but as a father.
“Thobani was very special to me, he was my boy. Our family is not doing well at all. Police officers see many terrible things in the line of duty but when it is one of your own the pain is almost too much.”
Xulu last spoke to his son, who was spending the night at the family’s home in Stanger Manor, on Friday evening around 9.30pm.
“He told me everything was fine and he was going to take a friend somewhere in the morning before he came home to Nkandla. I did not think that at 2.40am on Saturday morning I would get the worst call of my life. On the way to the scene I convinced myself that Thobani was alive. When I got there I saw his body under the foil. I shook his body over and over but my son was gone.”
The father and son had a special bond and Xulu shared a story of how they would park their cars together at night.
“The first night without him I went outside and shouted for him because the cars were not parked. When my wife came to tell me Thobani was gone it was so difficult.”
The respected police officer served at KwaDukuza SAPS with Mokoena from 2002 to 2006 and is battling to come to terms with his former colleague’s alleged involvement.
“I am a law-abiding man, but I am carrying so much anger in my heart. My son was an outstanding, warm and friendly young man. He was going to get married and has left behind three children, including a five-month-old. What must I do now? I want justice to be served but that will not bring Thobani back.”
Thobani’s cousin Manqoba Nsele, who accompanied Xulu to court, said the family needs closure.
“There is something not quite right about this case. We have questions. All I know is the truth will come out. It must.”
Sources say more police officers have been taken in for questioning regarding Mokoena’s involvement.
Mokoena is being held in Cato Manor and will appear again on February 27.