‘Motive will come out in court’: Cele reminds public in wake of magistrate’s murder

Police Minister Bheki Cele at the Simon’s Town Magistrates’ Court where a suspect appeared in connection with the murder of magistrate Romay van Rooyen. PHOTO: natasha bezuidenhout


Family of magistrate Romay van Rooyen was visibly absent from court where her nephew appeared in connection with her murder.

The 18-year-old appeared briefly in the Simon’s Town Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 29 September on a charge of murder.

Van Rooyen, who was a magistrate at Vredenburg Magistrates’ Court, was found murdered in her Marina da Gama home on Saturday 10 September.

News24 reported that the nephew was a pallbearer at his aunt’s funeral just days before the Hawks arrested him at his home in Mitchell’s Plain.

Commenting on the case outside court, Police Minister Bheki Cele said they were confident with the case and that they arrested the right person.

“Information that is there for the police is quite strong and as we say since he is a close relative to the deceased.”

He said although there had been speculation that Van Rooyen may have been targeted by people who she had tried in court, the evidence points towards her nephew.

“There was speculation that people expected it to maybe be one of the criminals that had been tried.

“The present information we have does not show that and it tells us that it is a close relative who is a young man of 18 years and a relative to the deceased. We are more than prima facie sure with the information . . . we have a very tight case.”

When questioned on whether the suspect was the nephew of the deceased, Cele commented that the accused was a “very close relative”.

He did not divulge the possible motive for the crime.

“Things like motive will come out in court, for now we are ready to go to court. There are investigations that are continuing that might take us to other people.

“But for him, we are very sure that we have the right person.”

You need to be Logged In to leave a comment.