Six years on: Why is justice still evading the family of Craig Douglas?

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has confirmed that key evidence in the six-year murder case of 23-year-old Craig Douglas from Edgemead—including witnesses, video footage, and a weapon—has become central to the ongoing delays in the case. Douglas was brutally beaten and stabbed by three suspects in a robbery for his vehicle.

This as Douglas's family continues to fight for justice after the case was struck off the roll in 2021 and then reinstated in 2024, following a complaint lodged with the Western Cape Ombudsman, who found that the Nyanga police at the time had been part of wrongdoing.

Douglas left home on November 30, 2019, for a friend's house in Heideveld. Disoriented on his return, he stopped in Athlone. His killers smashed the locked car windows, beat and stabbed him, placed his body in the passenger seat, and dumped it at Monwabisi beach.

In 2021, the case was struck off the roll at the Wynberg Magistrates’ Court due to evidence such as video footage, the murder weapon, and DNA evidence being outstanding. The docket had also been misplaced.

At the time, Douglas’s parents reported Nyanga police to the Western Cape Ombudsman. The findings were that the Nyanga police station was at fault in that they had failed to follow due process and protocol.

Now, years later, the family finds themselves at another deadlock as suspects Zandre van Niekerk, Edmonde Hoogbaard, and Reagan Smith are expected to be on trial.

The trial was supposed to start in November 2025, but Douglas’s family was left devastated after no witnesses were present and were told that the video footage was deemed not viable and that the case could be dismissed.

In a response to Cape Argus about the case, Eric Ntabazalila, Regional Communications Manager for the NPA, confirmed that the state was trying to locate the witnesses: "The allegations that are being made are unfortunate. The investigating officer always briefs the family on the status of the case.

The matter was set for trial on November 11, last year, but none of the witnesses could be traced by the investigating officer. The video footage is from a set of robots which shows a vehicle with a number plate but does not show the occupants of the vehicle.

“The weapon was found on the scene, but both do not assist in taking the case further. The investigating officer will continue to trace the witnesses to assist in taking the case further.”

The Douglas family said they learnt that one of the witnesses was imprisoned and that two others had become drug addicts and are calling on the state to subpoena them.

“We were told by the State that the murder weapon and CCTV footage wouldn’t be used because the eyewitnesses were strong enough. Now suddenly, none of those witnesses are available. One refuses to return from the Eastern Cape. Two are dismissed due to drug use. Where are the other witnesses?

"These witnesses have been known to SAPS for years. Why weren’t they supported, protected, or traced long before the trial?

"The footage was strong enough to trace the suspects in the beginning, yet we’re now told it’s unusable. No explanation that makes sense.

"SAPS also came to the family twice to take mouth swabs for DNA, so if they’re not using the knife, what was that for?

“The most painful part is the profound breakdown of trust in the justice system. We were told justice would come. Instead, we’re watching the case collapse while the accused remain free for more than half a decade.”

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Cape Argus