Gregory van der Berg, Eastridge
I am a close family friend of a murdered young man, Abdul Azeez Kleinsmith, 27, whose body was found on a path in a field next to Don Carlos Street, in Eastridge, on Sunday August 11 before 8am.
His janaza (burial by Islamic rites) was on Tuesday August 13. He would have celebrated his 28th birthday on August 15, and I fear that nothing will come of his murder and that this case will run cold.
This young truck driver, who is far from being a gangster, was murdered just hours after he attended a karaoke with his family at the Portland Indoor Centre, near to where Mitchell’s Plain neighbourhood watch members had met earlier to discuss crime (“Watch members unite to fight crime”, Plainsman August 14).
When I investigated, I found that there was not a single closed-circuit television camera in sight.
The young man was somehow either attacked on the premises or somewhere else as he was taken from there with none of his friends or family having any knowledge as to what happened to him.
The following day, his body was found in Eastridge close to his home. We were all woken up by a few young men who came to report his body lying on the field.
Detectives are working on the case, but I am concerned that there was no public appeal for witnesses to come forward.
Somebody must have seen something. Somebody must know something.
The media could help to get valuable leads in the case.
• Colonel Henry Pietersen, head of the Mitchell’s Plain detective branch, responds: This office confirms that a case of murder has been reported and registered at Mitchell’s Plain SAPS. No footage was obtained. There are no leads or witnesses to link any suspect to the murder. Anyone with information can call me at 079 894 1763.
