Investigation into murder of police officers at Ponta do Ouro not yet finalised

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Investigation into murder of police officers at Ponta do Ouro not yet finalised

3:31 CAT | 23 Aug 2019

Picture: O País

The Commander General of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique (PRM) Bernardino Rafael said that investigations into the deaths of two Border Guard officers at Ponta do Ouro, Matutuine district, Maputo province, were still ongoing.

The two policemen were shot dead by South African military personnel last June 16 for reasons unknown.

More than two months later, Bernardino Rafael said in Chimoio on Thursday that the case was still under investigation.

The PRM commander-general revealed that Mozambique’s interior minister, Basilio Monteiro, had been in neighbouring South Africa a few days ago to be told about the state of the investigation, and had learned from a meeting with local authorities that the South African Armed Forces had been slow to pass the case on to the criminal investigation authorities.

“It means there is an investigation already underway. The Armed Forces had not yet passed the case on to the investigative structures and only understood that there is a need to carry out a [full] investigation at a later stage,” Rafael said, adding that the investigating structure includes Mozambican counterparts.

When journalists reminded the Commander General of the Police that, when the incident occurred, he had given the South African authorities a two-week deadline to clarify the case, Rafael was cautious in his reply, stating that “Our insistence was that the case be passed on to the police authorities, because there is no problem solving in the military.”

By Carlitos Cadangue

Source: O País