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South Africa: Hunt On for Professor's Killers
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Cape Argus (Cape Town)
23 April 2008
Posted to the web 24 April 2008
Cape Town
A University of Cape Town associate professor has been shot dead by two gunmen outside his home in what police have said was an attempted hijacking.
Professor Kevin Rochford died minutes after being shot in the chest outside his Kew Road home in Little Mowbray at about 9pm on Tuesday night.
The 64-year-old professor at UCT's School of Education had been pulling his car out of the driveway so that his wife, Gadija, who had just come home from work, could drive her car into the garage first.
Police have confirmed that the two suspects, who are believed to have fled on foot, took only Rochford's car keys. They are still at large.
Gadija Rochford was too traumatised to speak to the Cape Argus on Wednesday morning.
She said that they had married on March 21 this year, before bursting into tears.
This morning UCT spokesperson Gerda Kruger said she was aware of the attack.
"He wanted to move his car so that his wife could pull her car into the garage and he was waiting in the street when two people approached him," Kruger said.
"Some voices were heard but nobody saw anything and minutes later he was shot.
"The two assailants ran off and they did not take any of his possessions," she said.
Kruger said Rochford was from Australia but had lived in South Africa for most of his adult life.
Rochford had worked at UCT for more than 30 years and had been an active member of the UCT Athletics Club.
"He was very passionately committed to science, education and student disabilities, but he was also very influential in sports and athletics.
"In 1974, he initiated one of the first non-racial marathons at the university, breaking apartheid barriers in sport," said Kruger.
Rochford's friend and colleague, Professor Tim Noakes of the Sports Science Institute, was shocked by the news.
He said Rochford had started running in the early 1970s and he had been running for all these years. He even ran the Two Oceans a few weeks ago.
"I spoke to him last week. He was in our department because he was interested in writing about the history of sports science.
"He was looking for material in our library and I told him to come work here when he wants," said Noakes.
Noakes said Rochford had been planning to retire at the end of the year or next year.
Describing Rochford's dedication to running, he said that one year when he was training for the Comrades marathon he had been told he could not run in the street.
"So he ran 40 miles around the UCT running track, doing 160 laps. That's how committed he was."
Police spokeswoman Inspector Bernadine Steyn has urged anyone with information to contact the investigating officer, Constable Lusanda Diko, at the Mowbray Police station on 021 689 1304.
Rochford's death comes after a spate of similar incidents across the city.
In November, UCT commercial law professor Mike Larkin died after being mugged and stabbed in Roslyn Road in Rondebosch.
Three similar incidents have also occurred across the city in the last eleven days.
On April 12, Khayelitsha resident Benson Makwetuwas was fatally shot in the head just metres from his Site B home. His car was not taken but his three passengers were robbed of their possessions.
Twelve hours later, 52-year-old Jane van Zyl was shot in the head as she pulled into her Bergvliet home driveway.
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On April 14, Mandalay neighbourhood watch member Patrick Wilson was shot in the head in broad daylight in Morgenster Road in Mitchells Plain.
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