POLOKWANE| The Team of investigators assigned to probe the murder of the Mayor of Collins Chabane municipality, the late Cllr Moses Maluleke, succeeded in positively linking one of the four suspects who were arrested for a spate of serious crimes to his murder. This linkage brings the total number of suspects arrested for the murder of the Mayor to five.
The Mayor was shot and killed at his house on Thursday, 21 July 2022. His 18-year-old son was also shot and injured during the incident.
The Vhembe Trio Crimes Task Team received information about the location of the suspects who were committing the spate of business robberies, car hijackings, murders, rapes and burglaries committed in Thohoyandou, Mphephu, Siloam, Vuwani and Levubu policing areas. The information was operationalised, which led the Team to different locations at Ha-Mutodi, Duthuni, Shayandima and Thohoyandou Block F, where the four suspects were arrested.
The suspects aged between 21 and 44 were, soon after their arrests, subjected to further probes which positively linked the 30-year-old to the murder of the Mayor. The probe also linked the same suspect to the murder of a Thohoyandou Lawyer. Mr Mangwadu, who was attached to the Legal Aid, was shot and killed in January 2022 when entering his home.
The Provincial Commissioner of Police in Limpopo, Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe, has commended the Team for conducting a well-coordinated operation that led to these arrests and also hailed the investigators for their meticulous investigations that positively linked one of the suspects to the murder of the Mayor.
The suspect will appear in Malamulele magistrate court tomorrow, Monday 12 September 2022, facing a charge of murder. Meanwhile, the other four accused are scheduled to appear in the same court on 19 September 2022.