The survivors of the Highgate Hotel massacre, who have spent more than three decades searching for the men who killed five people and changed their lives forever, have been dealt another blow after the investigation into the case was closed.
The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) informed the survivors and victims’ families that it had exhausted all avenues without finding further evidence.
The decision comes eight months after judge Denzil Potgieter found that the May 1993 attack was more than likely a “false flag operation” and referred new leads back to the Hawks and NPA for investigation.
When contacted by the Dispatch on Wednesday, survivor Neville Beling said they were deeply disappointed by the decision, particularly given the possibility that new information could still emerge.
However, he did not want to comment further until he had discussed the way forward with his fellow survivors.
It is a bitter turn for Beling and fellow survivor Karl Weber, who told the Dispatch after Potgieter handed down his finding in December that their search for answers was not over.
“We will carry on looking for suspects,” Weber said at the time.
Beling had said they would consult their legal team and “find a way forward from here”.
Survivors and families spokesperson Dr Theresa Edlmann said the latest development had left those involved with “more questions than answers”.
“The quality of the police investigation and the levels of commitment shown by the National Prosecuting Authority to solving this case have been problematic, to say the least.
“And so the closure of this investigation just leaves us with more questions than answers and a sense of frustration that this case has not been treated with the levels of commitment that it needed to be treated.”
Edlmann said those who lost their lives had not been afforded the dignity they should have received had the course of justice been fully supported by the relevant organs of state.
Five people — Stanley Hacking, Douglas Gates, Royce Wheeler, Deon Harris and Deric Whitfield — were killed when two balaclava-clad gunmen armed with assault rifles opened fire on patrons at the East London hotel on May 1 1993.
Seven survivors, including Beling and Weber, suffered life-altering wounds. Weber lost an arm.
The first inquest into the massacre was held only last year, 32 years after the killings.
In December, Potgieter found the involvement of elements within the apartheid security forces was “more probable than not”, while the involvement of a covert renegade SADF group known as the Hammer Unit remained a possibility.
No assailants were identified.
However, Potgieter referred certain leads which emerged during the inquest back to the Hawks and NPA.
They included information about another person who had apparently been at the Highgate Hotel on the night of the massacre and had been shot, but had not previously been investigated.
The NPA has now informed the survivors and families those leads were followed but no fresh evidence emerged.
The docket remains open and the investigation could be restarted if new information or evidence comes to light.
For the survivors, the outcome comes after Potgieter delivered a scathing assessment of how their case had been handled.
He documented improperly investigated crime scenes, missing and lost forensic evidence, failures to lift fingerprints, the docket lying dormant for more than 11 years and unexplained investigative delays.
“The state of affairs is simply shameful,” he said, adding that the “gross incompetence” inevitably gave rise to suspicion the investigation had been designed to fail.
In a joint statement with the Foundation for Human Rights, Weber, Beling and Harris’s sister Lyndene Page made clear the latest setback had not ended their search.
“Something just doesn’t sound right to me. They are leaving us with lots of questions,” Beling said.
Weber said: “This doesn’t make sense to us, a decision like this, after all these years of waiting for the inquest and for the truth to come out.”
Page said she felt they were “once again being let down by the NPA”.
The survivors and families said they remained resolved to keep searching for truth and justice.
Daily Dispatch