Johannesburg - The South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) on Saturday slammed the alleged killing of journalist Godknows Nare by three Johannesburg Metro Police Department traffic officers.
The three appeared in the Roodepoort Magistrate's Court on Friday on charges of murder, assault and defeating the ends of justice.
Nare was shot and killed near his home in Florida, Johannesburg in what was initially said to be a shootout with Metro police officers in April last year.
READ: R5k bail granted to JMPD officers arrested for alleged murder of journalist
“The cowards responsible for Nare’s callous murder do not belong to a constitutional order and a civilised society that respects the value of human life," said Sanco National spokesperson Jabu Mahlangu.
The three officers were arrested on Thursday, following an Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) investigation, which found that the officers had staged the scene.
Mahlangu said that the IPID probe and subsequent arrest of the trio alleged to be responsible for the journalist’s death reaffirms the importance of the police oversight body.
Mahlangu also called for JMPD Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar to be disciplined, for publicly defending the trio. He said that Minnaar had projected an image of the JMPD "being a mafia type organisation", which defended its own at the expense of the truth.
“Freedom of the media is one of the tenets of our democracy. We are therefore shocked when journalists who are part of holding the democratic state accountable are attacked and murdered by any organ of state,” added Mahlangu.
