Five months after Norman “Afzal” Simons, the man dubbed the Station Strangler, was granted parole after being imprisoned for 28 years, activists and police forums said new serial killers were on the prowl on the Cape Flats: gangsters killing children every day.
These groups said Simons was the least of their worries, and attention should be focused on the murder of children.
This comes just days after Zubair Jacobs, 7, was shot and killed while playing outside his home in Eastridge, Mitchells Plain earlier this week.
Three of Zubair’s siblings were wounded during a similar shooting earlier this year.
It appears Simons is finally being allowed to “live his life” after fears gripped the Parow and Mitchell’s Plain communities that there would be another “blood bath”.
approached a close friend of Simons, who did not want to be named.
He said Simons’s close family had asked for privacy at this time.
“Let him live his life,” said Parow Community Police Forum chairperson, Shakir Smith. Smith, part of regular engagements prior to Simon’s release, told the former prisoner was a sterling citizen who was adhering to parole conditions.
Simons is being monitored 24 hours a day by a caregiver and treated for an unknown medical condition.
Smith said their fears have been put at ease but they do not know the future.
“He cannot go anywhere without his caregiver,” he said. “He does have a medical script for an illness and his medication is being provided for him.
“What we want to say is, ‘Let him live his life’.
“He is adhering to his
“We have been in meetings with the Department of Correctional Services and the councillor following his release and it is less frequent now.
“He receives his regular visits from DCS.
“He needs to get on with his life, there are bigger issues of concern – like gangsters.”
Michael Jacobs of the Mitchells Plain Residents Association, who a year ago together with the South African Human Rights Commissioner, Reverend Chris Nissen, called for Simons to be freed, said he agreed with Smith.
Jacobs said months after Simons’s release, he was yet to see the 21
strict conditions. unsolved cases of the so called “Station Strangler” be revisited and investigated.
Jacobs was adamant that the real serial killer was gangsters who were behind the spate of murders of young children in Cape Town.
“It can be stated that it seems that Mr Simons has stayed within his parole conditions as we have not heard anything negative so far,” he said.
“While we understand the fears of the community, since his release more children have been killed on the Cape Flats at the hands of gangsters who continue to terrorise our communities.
“Gun violence and violent crime is on the increase in Hanover Park, Delft, Heideveld, Manenberg, Nyanga, Philippi and Mfuleni.
“Just this week, we saw a sevenyear-old boy, Zubair Jacobs, of Eastridge mercilessly gunned down by cowards.
“So our children continue to be in the firing line and our focus should be to get the guns off our streets.
“We hold SAPS to their commitment that they will look into the other Station Strangler cases and hope that progress is being made.
“Without that finality, the families of the unsolved murder cases will never be able to get closure.
“We demand that SAPS hold a public information meeting as to the status of these outstanding cases as soon as possible.”
Golden Miles Bhudu of the South African Prisoners Organisation for Human Rights said the wider issue was the correct reintegration of prisoners, rather than focusing on a man who had served his time behind bars.
“On a daily basis, tens of hundreds of parolees are released and they come back from prisons, whether we like it or not,” he said.
“In a country of 62 million people, over 160 000 men, women and youth go through the South African prisons system every year and return to our communities.
“If current trends continue, twothirds will be rearrested within three years, and over 100 000 will return to jail, having committed new crimes, or parole violations.
“DCS should have by now identified and significantly dealt with barriers that hamper the successful reintegration, faced by offenders; that includes poor employment skills, unemployability, drug addiction, homelessness, lack of positive support systems, and outstanding legal issues.”
Simons was released on parole this week after serving 28 years, following his conviction for one murder. The former school teacher was found guilty in 1995 of the murder of 10-year-old Elroy van Rooyen.
Jeremy, Elino Sprinkle, 11, Donovan Swarts, 11, Neville Samaai, 13, Jeremy Benjamin, 10, Owen Hoofmeester, 12, Fabian Willmore, 8, Marcelino Cupido, 10, and five unidentified victims between the ages of 10 and 14 were some of the victims of the Station Strangler.
Simons has been barred from speaking publicly via the media and has been placed under 24-hour house arrest.
He is allowed four hours a week to seek medical attention if needed, and will receive eight visits a month from Community Corrections and must attend rehabilitation programmes and seek employment.
Candice van Reenen of the Department of Correctional Services said Simons was complying with the set conditions as determined by the Community Corrections office.
He remains under house arrest. He is integrating well and there is a good support system in place.”