Pretoria - A fifth suspect in the murder of Collins Chabane municipality mayor Moses Maluleke will today appear before the Malamulele magistrate court facing charges of murder and robbery amongst other charges.
According to Limpopo police the 30-year-old was arrested among three other suspects during an operation after a tip-off following a spate of business robberies, car hijackings, murders, rapes and burglaries committed in Thohoyandou, Mphephu, Siloam, Vuwani and Levubu in the Vhembe region.
Police had initially arrested four people in connection with the murder of Maluleke bringing the arrests to five in total.
The other four accused are scheduled to appear in the same court on September 19.
Maluleke was shot and killed in cold blood at his house in July 2022. His 18 year-old son was also shot and injured during the incident.
The suspects allegedly stormed into Maluleke’s home and demanded money but when he refused he was shot along with his son who survived.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo said a team of investigators successfully linked the suspect to the murder.
He said: “The Vhembe Trio Crimes Task Team received information about the location of the suspects who were committing random crimes in the Vhembe District.
“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 who was shot and killed in January while entering his home,” Mojapelo said.
Provincial commissioner of police Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe has commended the team for the arrests.
“We congratulate the team for a well co-ordinated 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,” Hadebe said.
Pretoria News