Prior to his disappearance on March 29, Kabelo Dikobe was named as one of the suspects in a case involving two men who, according to the state, were executed near a KFC outlet in Alexandra.

State prosecutor Lufuno Maphiri revealed this during the bail hearing of security boss David Ndala, accused of kidnapping Dikobe, at the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday. Linking Ndala to Dikobe’s kidnapping and suggesting a possible motive, Maphiri told the court about a double murder that occurred weeks before Dikobe’s disappearance.

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“There was an incident, about seven weeks ago, at KFC in Alexandra, where an uncle and his nephew were sitting in a car and were executed.

“The accused [Ndala] is related, in some way, to those who were killed in that vehicle.”

According to Maphiri, Ndala, who manages a security company, learned who the possible suspects were, and that list included Dikobe. On March 29, Ndala went ahead to Joe’s Corner Tavern with three other suspects, who have not yet been arrested, and they took the law into their own hands.

The court heard that the fact that Dikobe was a suspect in the murder case of people close to Ndala, established a possible motive for Ndala’s alleged actions. Maphiri stressed that Ndala cannot take the law into his own hands. “Police are there to investigate cases, and a murder docket had already been opened. There was no need for him to do that,” Maphiri said, opposing bail.

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Ndala’s lawyer dismissed the alleged motive as speculation. When magistrate Reiner Boshoff pressed that Dikobe remains missing, the defence suggested that Dikobe might have fled. “For all we know, perhaps the man ran away from whatever he did,” the lawyer said, drawing strong emotions from Dikobe’s family in court.

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Boshoff cautioned him against provoking the gallery, and ordered him to proceed on the facts, and to not speculate.

Speaking outside the court after Ndala’s bail was denied, Dikobe’s family firmly rejected claims that their son was involved in the double murder. His father, Thabo Ngoetjane, said that can never be true. “If a child is losing their way, we would see it in their lifestyle. There is no such thing.”

Ngoetjane added that even if the allegations were true, Ndala had no right to act outside the law. “Why didn’t he take Kabelo to the police station, and let the law take its course? He managed to hand himself over to the police, why didn’t he do the same with Kabelo?”

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