Family of missing Nazeer Mohammed feels let down by court system
Nazeer Mohamed’s family say they feel let down by the South African court system after the case of their missing son was postponed once again.
Nazeer Mohammed’s family say they feel let down by the South African court system after the case of their missing son was postponed once again at the Johannesburg Magistrates’ Court.
Mohammed’s sister Zaheera Mohammed said they were extremely disappointed in the way the case had been handled by the court. “The suspects were caught in possession of Nazeer’s two vehicles and cellphone on 10 January 2013,” she said.
“They were charged with theft. Three years later the case is still continuing.”
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A disappointed Zaheera said there were many occasions when her brother’s case was postponed due to the hearing of other cases, bail hearings or the overbooking of cases to be heard in a day.
“This is extremely stressful as, each time you attend court, you expect justice to be done. It’s living in constant anxiety all the time.”
The sentencing of Robert Nembaka and Rotshidzwa Netshiavha, who were convicted in November last year on charges of possession of a stolen vehicle and theft, has been postponed twice this year alone.
Zaheera added that the courts are flooded with criminal cases which indicated the amount of crime taking place in South Africa daily.
“Many South Africans that we meet and hear their stories are living through the same pain that we are going through.”
She called on the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Tshililo Michael Masutha to review the court system.
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“The case is going on for far too long, over three years now.” Regarding the police investigation, Zaheera said there was definitely a lack of resources, infrastructure and skill. “The police took one day to open up a case for a missing person and one month to obtain cellphone records. This is unacceptable.”
She said Mohammed has been missing for four years and it had been really tough on the family. “As a family, we pray a lot together to get closure. We talk about Nazeer every day, we miss him dearly.”
