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AfriForum approaches DPP after failure to prosecute driver who allegedly killed cyclist

AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit requested Adv. Andrew Chauke, the Director of Public Prosecutions in Gauteng (DPP), to appoint someone from his own office to prosecute the person suspected of killing Nino Oppel on 28 February 2018. Oppel was a participant in the popular Berge en Dale cycling race in Muldersdrift, Gauteng when the suspect allegedly hit him with his vehicle and sped away.

The Private Prosecution Unit is currently assisting the Oppel-family and made comprehensive representations to the DPP after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) initially indicated that they would not prosecute. The DPP in August 2020 indicated that there is a prima facie case against the man and that he should be prosecuted. Nevertheless, prosecutors in Krugersdorp have still not instituted prosecution.

According to Andrew Leask, Chief Investigator at AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit, it is shocking that it seems that prosecutors in Krugersdorp are simply failing to adhere to an order of the DPP by not prosecuting the suspect.

“Moreover, the suspect was released on the instruction of the senior prosecutor in Krugersdorp in 2018 mere days after he was arrested. The continued failure of the prosecutors in Krugersdorp to prosecute the suspect, in our opinion, seems to be nothing more than ineptitude. This has forced us to once again approach the DPP in order to ensure that justice is served and the suspect is finally prosecuted.”

According to Leask this is once again substantiates the view that the NPA is unwilling to prosecute cases that may be complicated. “It is astonishing that the prosecutors are searching for reasons not to prosecute, especially after the DPP has already instructed that a prosecution must be done. It has now been four years since the tragic death of the deceased and the family continues to wait for justice.”

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