The Station Strangler should be allowed to live his life and cops should rather focus on the new serial killers of the Cape Flats – evil skollies.
This is the view of crimefighters who say that Norman “Afzal” Simons, the man dubbed the Station Strangler, is the least of their worries.
Parow Community Police Forum chairperson, Shakir Smith says: “Let him live his life.
Simons was granted parole five months ago after being imprisoned for 28 years.
Fear gripped Parow and Mitchells Plain, as communities recalled the Strangler’s reign of terror during the 1990s.
But activists, prison rights organisations and community policing forums now say that the attention should be turned to skollies who continue to kill children.
This comes just days after Zubair Jacobs, 7, was shot and killed while playing outside his home in Eastridge, Mitchells Plain.
According to Smith, Simons is a sterling citizen who is adhering to his parole conditions.
He says Simons, who is living in Parow, is being monitored 24 hours a day by a caregiver and is being treated for an unknown medical condition.
Smith says: “He cannot go anywhere without his caregiver. He does have a medical script for an illness and his medication is being provided for him.
“He receives his regular visits from DCS [Department of Correctional Services].
“He needs to get on with his life. There are bigger issues of concern – like gangsters.”
Michael Jacobs of the Mitchells Plain Residents Association agrees with Smith.
Jacobs reckons: “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.”
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.
Bhudu adds: “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, two thirds 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.”
Of the 13 murders attributed to the Station Strangler, Simons was only ever convicted for the murder of 10-year-old Elroy van Rooyen in 1995.
Simons has been barred from speaking publicly via the media.
DCS spokesperson Candice van Reenen says of Simons “He remains under house arrest. He is integrating well and there is a good support system in place.”
genevieve.serra@inl.co.za