Three teenage boys aged 15 to 17 have been detained in Limpopo in connection with the hijacking and murder of an e-hailing driver. On October 9, the driver’s lifeless body was discovered in the Westernburg neighbourhood.
The first suspect, a 17-year-old boy, was apprehended on Tuesday in Ladanna, outside Polokwane, following an intelligence-led operation conducted by members of the SAPS Polokwane Criminal Intelligence Unit in partnership with Westernburg Detectives.
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Colonel Malesela Ledwaba of the provincial police said two of his accused accomplices, aged 15 and 16, were arrested on Friday after turning themselves in accompanied by their parents.
The hijacked motor vehicle was found abandoned in the park at Ladine in Polokwane,” said Ledwaba. He said preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects requested to be ferried on the ride-hailing app Bolt. “It is alleged that along the way, they stabbed the driver to death and afterwards burnt and dumped the body on a newly developed site near the Place of Safety Shelter in the Westenburg Policing area,” Ledwaba added.
The victim has been identified, and Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe, Provincial Commissioner of the South African Police Service in Limpopo, has voiced her serious concern about the involvement of children in such a heinous act.
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“All of the arrested suspects in this horrendous crime were found to be minors, which is very disturbing that our children are now involved in such criminal activities. This exhibits an unbelievable lack of moral fibre,” Hadebe said.
Following the completion of the diversion programmes with the probation officer and social workers, the suspects are anticipated to appear before the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court in due course.
