Murder suspects slain: second cop held
May 8 2015 at 10:41am
By Shain Germaner
INDEPENDENT
MEDIAFile photo: Skyler
Reid
Johannesburg - After a three-day-long manhunt, police have arrested the
second constable believed to be responsible for the killing of three murder
suspects.
According to provincial SAPS communications head Brigadier Mashadi
Selepe, the officer and another suspect were found in Witbank and arrested on
Thursday night.
On Tuesday, Gauteng police chiefs revealed that two officers had been
accused of kidnapping, torturing and killing three suspects in a murder
investigation, and that a fourth suspect had narrowly escaped.
The two officers, along with some informers, had allegedly picked up the
first suspect on April 17 in Springs, Ekurhuleni, beat him until he was
unconscious, and then taken him to hospital where he was declared dead. They
had then booked out his body from the hospital and transported it in their
vehicle while they continued their hunt for the other suspects.
Thereafter, they located the other three suspects and took them to an
abandoned stretch of veld where the officers allegedly opened fire on the trio,
killing two of them. The third escaped. The bodies were only discovered after
an informant alerted police on Monday to their whereabouts.
The first officer was arrested on Tuesday morning but the other one fled
allegedly with his police-issue R5 rifle.
A source close to the investigation said the second constable was
originally from Limpopo.
However, searches in the province among his family and relatives’ homes
were unsuccessful, as were initial attempts to track the officer’s cellphone.
Sources told The Star that one of the informants is believed to have
turned State witness and would not be prosecuted.
On Thursday, Constable Thulani Madondo was brought to the Oberholzer
Magistrate’s Court for his first appearance.
He appeared sheepish as he was brought before Magistrate Howard Raath.
With him was co-accused Mpho Matlala, one of the other informants
believed to have taken part in the killings.
Both men have been charged with three counts of murder, one of attempted
murder, four of kidnapping and one count of defeating the ends of justice.
The case was postponed to May 19 for a bail application. The second
officer is set to appear in the same court on Monday.
Independent Police Investigative Directorate spokesman Moses Dlamini
said the second officer had been under investigation for other cases of
misconduct. He said the directorate would work with the SAPS in the
investigation.
Meanwhile, the Gauteng and national commissioners have condemned
criminal and ill-disciplined members in their ranks.
“We are a transparent organisation and we are taking this very
seriously,” said the commissioner’s spokesman, Lieutenant-General Solomon
Makgale, who gave The Star statistics on the number of police dismissals in the
past three financial years.
“As the SAPS has more than 33 000 members in Gauteng alone, the number
of dismissals shows criminal elements within the force are a small minority,”
Makgale pointed out.
During the 2014-2015 financial year, 381 SAPS members had been dismissed
countrywide, a decrease on the previous year, in which 504 had been dismissed.
On Tuesday, Gauteng provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Lesetja
Mothiba said his aim was to stamp out the rot within the SAPS.
He vowed that the officers responsible for the three killings would face
the full might of the justice system, and that the custodians of the law could
not be seen to be breaking it.
For Mothiba, increasing the trust between the SAPS and regular civilians
was paramount.
“We need to align our members’ behaviour with our code of conduct, and
get rid of those who don’t follow it,” said Makgale.
This investigation had |revealed that the officers responsible were part
of a network of criminals who would be brought to book, he said.
shain.germaner@inl.co.za
The Star
