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A GRASSY PARK resident has been arrested and formally charged with the murder of Bergvliet resident Jane van Zyl (52).

Van Zyl was murdered in front of her Fair Way home on Sunday, 13 April, when she returned from Constantiaberg Medi-Clinic hospital after dropping off her husband. Initial investigations indicated that Van Zyl was followed home by her attackers.

In front of her gate, they supposedly robbed her of her handbag and fired one fatal shot to her head before speeding off. Van Zyl was rushed to Groote Schuur Hospital; her life support machines were switched off the next day.

Her well-attended funeral took place at the Constantia Dutch Reformed Church in Firgrove Way, Constantia, at 15:00 on Friday, 18 April.

According to Inspector Rodney Franks, spokesperson for the Kirstenhof Police, a 25-year-old man has now been positively linked to the murder with evidence found on the scene, and was arrested by the Kirstenhof Police's armed robbery task team on Tuesday, 15 April.

The task team was established in response to a spate of violent robberies that flared up in the Constantia Valley for about a month.

The team consists of top Kirstenhof detectives and members of the crime intelligence division assigned to track the suspects.

Franks says that the man arrested for the murder has also been linked to a driveway robbery in Bothasig, the possession of an unlicensed firearm in Tableview, and the possession of a stolen vehicle.

People's Post earlier reported ("Murder in Bergvliet", 15 April) that the method of the murder was similar to that used by a criminal cell at work in the area. It was also reported ("Battle of the suburbs", 8 April) that an "extremely dangerous" cell, linked to the spate of armed robbe?ries, is operating in the Bergvliet, Kreupelbosch, Constantia-Hills and Nova Constantia area.

Franks said at the time that there were originally two cells at work in the area, one originating from Grassy Park, and one from the Khayelitsha and Gugulethu areas. Most members of the Grassy Park cell were at the time said to be in detention.

It could not be established whether the murder suspect is linked to the cells.

"The investigation is on-going and more arrests are set to follow," says Franks.

The court date for the man's appea?rance has not yet been set, and the docket has been handed over to the Serious and Violent Crimes Unit.

According to Franks, "This investigation and the resulting arrests, as well as the arrests to follow, have been the most extensive ever undertaken by a police station like Kirstenhof and have set in motion the blueprint for future investigations".

"Intelligence-driven investigations are paramount for us to engage a sudden shift in crime, as was the case with these robberies."

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