PRETORIA – Police in Mpumalanga have arrested three men for murder, car hijacking and possession of a stolen motor vehicle, after a man was called to a work appointment and killed.
Mpumalanga SAPS spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala said the trio was arrested on Friday at Kwaggafontein.
“According to the information at our disposal, on Wednesday, January 19, 2022, an unknown African male was found dead in the nearby bushes at Vlaklaagte No 2. The deceased had multiple stab wounds all over his body,” Mohlala said.
The following day, on Thursday, a woman arrived at the Kwaggafontein police station to report her missing husband.
“When police went through the record of the missing persons, they found out that it was that unknown body found on Wednesday,” Mohlala said.
“The woman (wife) then shared information about someone who called her husband several times on his cellphone promising him a job. The caller was well known to her husband as they allegedly worked together at a particular mine before.”
The woman further alleged that the caller made an appointment with her husband to meet at Vlaklaagte bus stop on Wednesday at 6am.
“Her husband, the deceased, went there driving his blue Toyota Conquest and never came back. Police conducted their investigation and the first suspect, the caller, was arrested and led the police to the other two suspects who were also arrested and detained for further investigations,” Mohlala said.
Further investigation led the police to find the deceased’s motor vehicle in the garage of one of the suspects.
On Monday, Mohlala said the three suspects 29, 24 and 29 years old, were scheduled to appear before the Mkobola Magistrate's Court.
Meanwhile, provincial commissioner of police in Mpumalanga Lieutenant General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela has applauded the police officers “for their sense of urgency in the investigation of cases” and she encouraged others to do the same.
IOL