Rustenburg – Another suspect linked to the murder of Collins Chabane Municipality mayor, Moses Maluleke, has been arrested, Limpopo police said on Sunday.
Limpopo police spokesperson, Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo, said 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 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.”
He said a team of investigators assigned to probe the murder of Maluleke, succeeded in positively linking one of the four suspects who was 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 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, (who) was shot and killed in January when entering his home.”
He was expected to appear in the Malamulele Magistrate’s Court on Monday, facing a charge of murder. The other four were scheduled to appear in the Malamulele Magistrate’s Court on September 19.
“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,” Brigadier Mojapelo said.
IOL