Setback in quest for justice for Zarah Ramsamy as suspect walks free

A POLICE officer who was charged for being in possession of a hijacking victim’s bank card, and was linked to the looting during the 2021 unrest, walked out of court a free man after a brief court appearance on Tuesday.

Constable Minenhle Makhaye, 27, who was a police officer at the Cato Manor police station, was arrested for being in possession of Shaida Ramsamy’s bank card.

Ramsamy was hijacked outside the McDonalds fast food outlet in Malvern on September 11, 2024.

Her daughter, Zarah, 11, who was hiding under her Toyota Fortuner when armed men demanded the vehicle’s keys from her mother, was killed after the hijackers ran over her as they made their getaway in Ramsamy’s vehicle.

Makhaye was the police officer tasked to drive the hijacked Fortuner when it was recovered in Cato Manor hours after the hijacking.

He was arrested three weeks later when police found him in possession of Ramsamy’s bank card.

Hawks investigators identified him on CCTV footage buying alcohol amounting to R1 000 from a liquor store at Southway Mall with two of his friends on September 12, 2024, a day after the hijacking.

He was also found in possession of 272 bank cards, 10 of which were analysed and found to have been stolen at the Bridge City Mall in Ntuzuma during the looting in 2021.

Makhaye had been denied bail since his arrest, and lost the appeal against his bail ruling in the Durban High Court in May this year.

He appeared in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, and was released from police custody after Magistrate Scelo Zuma struck the matter off the court roll.

State prosecutor Loyiso Mcemane said the docket for the case was in the control prosecutor's office, and she was on leave. 

Mcemane asked the court for the case to be postponed to Wednesday, but Zuma said there had been no progress in the matter since Makhaye’s arrest.

“Would any postponement serve as an expedition to the case? Even today there is no progress in the matter. The whereabouts of the docket is not known. The matter was transferred to the regional court and then transferred to the district court for the purposes of trial. It was an afterthought of the State to have the matter tried again in the regional court and for matters (other charges against Makhaye) to be joined.

“Unfortunately, there is an accused in custody from the date of his arrest, which leaves me with one decision to make, which is to strike the matter off the roll,” Zuma said.

Makhaye had spent nine months at Westville prison since his arrest.

Zarah’s parents, Barnes and Shaida Ramsamy, said they were at a loss for words when they found out that Makhaye was a free man.

Barnes said he received a call from a Hawks officer, who informed him that Makhaye was released from police custody yesterday (Tuesday).

“The police officer told me that he was disappointed with Makhaye’s release and he reassured me that the matter would be placed back on the court roll after consultations with the office of the director of public prosecutions,” he said.

Shaida said she struggled to accept the court’s decision.

“I feel terrible. This is ridiculous. The police had no clues and there were no developments or other arrests relating to Zarah’s murder or the hijacking. It has become a cold case, and we do not even receive feedback from police anymore. Now, the only lead they had, which is the arrest of the police officer, is gone.

“Justice is not being served. Those that killed my daughter are walking free. Soon it will be one year since her death. The criminals are living their lives while my child has lost hers. I feel more unsafe and troubled knowing someone linked to her death has been released from prison,” added Shaida.

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