Pretoria: 25 June 2015 – In an intelligence driven operation today the
special task team set up by the National Commissioner, General Riah
Phiyega, to investigate cases linked to Rodavan Krecjir, arrested two
men for conspiracy to commit murder. The men are alleged to have been
part of an elaborate plot to kill several witnesses that are to testify
in the Sam Essa murder.
On 12 October 2013, 51 year old Sam Issa, a Lebanese National was
gunned down in a drive-by shooting in Bedfordview. He had stopped at a
robot and as he was about to move over; a white Ford Ranger stopped
next to him and the suspects started firing shots.
The team arrested Radovan Krecjir, Siboniso Miya, Nkanyiso Mafunda and
Simphiwe Memela (Baba Kejesu) in connection with the brutal killing of
Sam Issa. They were already in custody in connection with attempted
murder and kidnapping of a man in Katlehong, East of Johannesburg, as
well as the case of conspiring to murder Colonel Nkosana Ximba and Paul
O’Sullivan. These four accused are due to appear in the Germiston
Regional Court on 30 June 2015
trial for the murder of Sam Issa.
In the meantime, the investigation team established that certain
individuals associated with the accused had been plotting to kill some
of the key witnesses. On uncovering this, the team acted swiftly and
over the past few days and gathered overwhelming evidence followed by a
court order to arrest the conspirators that are allegedly responsible
for masterminding the plot on the outside.
“This is a massive breakthrough in this particular case because if this
conspiracy was not uncovered in time, not only would we have struggled
to secure a successful prosecution, but more importantly, many innocent
lives would have been lost,” said the National Commissioner, General
Riah Phiyega.
These two men plus others, including the Issa murder accused will now
face charges of conspiracy to commit murder and other possible charges
depending on how the investigation progresses.
