Seven years ago, a double murder on the N1 highway just before the Albertina Sisulu Road off-ramp made national headlines.
One of the victims was a prominent Soweto businessman and former police officer, while the other was an above-average Joe just looking to help. On that fateful mid-March night in 2015, Hennie de Vries stopped to assist what he thought was a stricken motorist, only to be fatally shot multiple times.
Read initial article here: “My broer is koelbloedig vermoor”
Dubbed ‘The Good Samaritan’ by the media, Hennie left behind a grieving wife who is still struggling to come to terms with what happened. Approaching seven long years without the love of her life, Cindy de Vries is still baffled that no progress has been made in the case. The grief-laden woman has not had an update from police in over three years, and had expected, give the high-profile identity of the man who shared Hennie’s fate, would have become a priority investigation.
Gauteng Provincial Police spokesperson, Captain Kay Makhubela, who had confirmed the particulars in the original media coverage of the incident, confirmed the case had not been closed but could not confirm if any suspects had been identified. “Police can arrest the suspect as long as there is a case opened against the suspect. The police continue to search for suspects as long as the suspect is still wanted for a crime committed,” stated Captain Makhubela.
Hennie was one of the 17 805 murder cases reflected in the 2014/ 2015 stats released by the South African Police Service. Unfortunately, authorities do not release the number of arrests made in connection with murder cases nor was the National Prosecuting Authority able to provide information on murder convictions when requested. Wanting answers, Cindy asked if private investigators were used to assist police and if not, why?
Also read: Police remains mum on double murder case
One such private entity is Backup Security, who assists with gathering intelligence on the ground. “Police don’t outsource officially, but they sometimes ask for help in obtaining info because you have to get the info any way you can. If a murder does not get solved at station level it will go to a specialist crime intervention unit. I’ve never seen a murder case just closed; it goes dormant but they don’t stop completely. We have had a police member who spent two years working on a case that was eventually cracked,” said DK from Backup Security, who shielded his identity due to the nature of his work.
The endless wait for closure sits like a dark cloud over Cindy’s life. Having seen footage of the incident, she believes there may be witnesses who could add the final missing piece that would end her suffering. Desperate for a resolution, she pleaded, “I need closure, I want to know what happened. He was such a good guy, an angel. I need to move on with my life but I just can’t.”
