THE police have not responded to questions about whether they have bungled the murder case of Reverend Liezel de Jager who was murdered in her home in Amanzimtoti in 2021.

The questions sent by the SUN come after an interview on BizNews TV where Liezel’s father, Henk van Zyl, spoke in public for the first time about the anguish his family has gone through over the past 19 months as a result of the lack of justice for his daughter.

ALSO READ: Liezel de Jager murder: No arrests a year on

Liezel, 38, was murdered in her home on October 13, 2021, after returning from a morning jog. She was found strangled to death in the yard and none of her possessions, including her phone and wallet, had been taken. The gate was locked and the only other people home were her husband, Werner, and their two children.
Van Zyl said the last time he ever received any update from the police about the case was in December last year. In the meantime, he has contacted the police over 90 times via text and calls, trying to get an update on where the case is.

A former policeman with a 22-year track record with the South African Police Service (SAPS), Van Zyl said while he respects the rule of law, he has lost faith in the SAPS institution.

“Many people say ‘once a policeman, always a policeman‘. There’s still a big part of me that still believes in this organisation, but to say what we have experienced is shocking would be putting it mildly,” said Van Zyl.

He said there were some red flags he noticed from the beginning of the investigation but he chose not to interfere with the investigator’s work. Arriving at the crime scene in the afternoon the same day the murder happened, Van Zyl said he was surprised to find that the area where Liezel’s body was found had been washed clean.

“I was told it was because the investigation at the scene was finished, and they had removed all the evidence so as not to traumatise the children and the relatives,” said Van Zyl.

Another shock came a day before the funeral when the funeral parlour notified him that the police had requested the body back in order to correct something regarding the post-mortem.

“A few days before the funeral I had phoned the investigating officer and asked him if they have obtained everything that is needed in the post-mortem. I told him that the funeral was going to be a cremation and this was going to be the only chance they will have to perform a post-mortem. He assured me that everything had been obtained,” said Van Zyl.

According to him, the post-mortem report is still outstanding and has never been finalised – 19 months after it was performed.

“It appears to me that even senior people that are supposed to make a difference are either overworked, incompetent or just not interested. Not one of these three reasons is acceptable,” he said.

In a statement, Ian Cameron of Action Society, a non-profit civil rights organisation, said the way the case has been handled has been appalling.

“To add insult to injury, the family and Action Society have reached out to the police, including personal visits, in their desperate plea for progress. But what have they received in return? Absolutely zero progress. Liezel’s life seems to be reduced to a mere number by the authorities. This cannot stand,” said Cameron.

He added that all other avenues will be exhausted to ensure Liezel’s killer is held accountable and put behind bars.

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