THE family of slain police constable Francis Rasuge say they hope they will finally find closure after DNA tests confirmed that the human remains discovered at a house in Temba, north of Pretoria, were hers.
However, they expressed anger at the government, accusing them of failing to inform them about the developments.
Rasuge's brother Edward told Sowetan yesterday that they only learnt about the new developments when the media started calling them for a comment.
"Shortly thereafter we received a call from someone from the premier's office who told us not to talk to the media," he said.
Rasuge said he hoped the new information would bring closure.
Gauteng police spokeswoman Lieutenant-Colonel Katlego Mogale said the DNA was analysed by a forensic science laboratory.
Construction workers came across the bones while laying a foundation at the house of her murderer, William Nkuna, on March 20.
The police's K9 Unit and the forensic laboratory later uncovered several bones, including a skull.
Rasuge went missing on August 27 2004. She was last seen alive with Nkuna outside a salon in Temba.
During an interview with Radio 702 at the time, Nkuna claimed that he missed Rasuge and that he was not sure whether she was alive.
Judge Ronald Hendricks sentenced Nkuna in the Mmabatho Circuit Court sitting in GaRankuwa to life imprisonment in November 2005, even though her body had not been found.
At the time of Nkuna's trial, widespread appeals were made for him to reveal the whereabouts of Rasuge's remains.
A few weeks after the sentence was handed down, David Cornelius, 35, who purported to be a friend of Nkuna, claimed he knew where Rasuge was buried and led police to a grave.
The body was exhumed, but turned out to be that of an older woman buried long before Rasuge's disappearance.
In 2007, the garage of Nkuna's house was dug up, to no avail, after a sangoma claimed to have had a vision which revealed that Rasuge's remains were buried underneath a garage at a private property.
It was one of more than 100 reports, based on dreams and visions, about Rasuge's whereabouts, police said.
Police even used three search dogs at the property, none of which responded positively for human remains.
Now that her remains had been found, any person found to have helped Nkuna dispose of her body would be charged with being an accessory to murder, said National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga.
As it stood, there could be grounds to charge Nkuna with defeating the ends of justice.
"But that would not serve any purpose since he is serving a life sentence," said Mhaga.
Rasuge remains found at last
THE family of slain police constable Francis Rasuge say they hope they will finally find closure after DNA tests confirmed that the human remains discovered at a house in Temba, north of Pretoria, were hers.
However, they expressed anger at the government, accusing them of failing to inform them about the developments.
Rasuge's brother Edward told Sowetan yesterday that they only learnt about the new developments when the media started calling them for a comment.
"Shortly thereafter we received a call from someone from the premier's office who told us not to talk to the media," he said.
Rasuge said he hoped the new information would bring closure.
Gauteng police spokeswoman Lieutenant-Colonel Katlego Mogale said the DNA was analysed by a forensic science laboratory.
Construction workers came across the bones while laying a foundation at the house of her murderer, William Nkuna, on March 20.
The police's K9 Unit and the forensic laboratory later uncovered several bones, including a skull.
Rasuge went missing on August 27 2004. She was last seen alive with Nkuna outside a salon in Temba.
During an interview with Radio 702 at the time, Nkuna claimed that he missed Rasuge and that he was not sure whether she was alive.
Judge Ronald Hendricks sentenced Nkuna in the Mmabatho Circuit Court sitting in GaRankuwa to life imprisonment in November 2005, even though her body had not been found.
At the time of Nkuna's trial, widespread appeals were made for him to reveal the whereabouts of Rasuge's remains.
A few weeks after the sentence was handed down, David Cornelius, 35, who purported to be a friend of Nkuna, claimed he knew where Rasuge was buried and led police to a grave.
The body was exhumed, but turned out to be that of an older woman buried long before Rasuge's disappearance.
In 2007, the garage of Nkuna's house was dug up, to no avail, after a sangoma claimed to have had a vision which revealed that Rasuge's remains were buried underneath a garage at a private property.
It was one of more than 100 reports, based on dreams and visions, about Rasuge's whereabouts, police said.
Police even used three search dogs at the property, none of which responded positively for human remains.
Now that her remains had been found, any person found to have helped Nkuna dispose of her body would be charged with being an accessory to murder, said National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga.
As it stood, there could be grounds to charge Nkuna with defeating the ends of justice.
"But that would not serve any purpose since he is serving a life sentence," said Mhaga.
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