Policeman pays with his life investigating illegal miners
He was investigating cases of illegal gold mining against the associates of the accused and opposed the granting of bail in some of those cases on several occasions.
MBOMBELA – A policeman paid the ultimate price, his life, when he probed too deeply into illegal gold mining. This came to light when the two men accused of his murder, Mr Moffat David Chiloane (35) and Mr Mbuso Een Mabilisa (35), appeared in the North Gauteng Circuit of the High Court this week.
Both men appeared in front of Judge Mr Eben Jordaan on charges robbery and the murder of Det Const Lungile Eugene Nyirenda (34), and possession of an illegal firearm and ammunition.
Investigating officer in the case, Const Skumbuso Thabethe of the Nelspruit Organised Crime unit, testified in the trial within a trial after Chiloane claimed he had been assaulted by police upon his arrest. Thabethe explained in detail how they had found Chiloane after a tip-off with an illegal firearm and how he had told them he had gotten it at the tavern where Nyirenda was killed when they questioned him.
“If someone was assaulted in the building, people would have heard it, there would have been a commotion.”
According to the charge sheet, the deceased policeman was a detective constable attached to the Low’s Creek police station. He was investigating cases of illegal gold mining against the associates of the accused and opposed the granting of bail in some of those cases on several occasions.
This apparently did not go down well with the accused and they decided to kill him.
On November 14, 2009 at 22:00, while Nyirenda was on standby duty and attending to dockets, he was outside the Emasakheni tavern speaking to some of their patrons. That night there was a power outage at the tavern and a generator had to be used.
Unknown to Nyirenda, he was apparently followed to the tavern by the accused. The suspects then went approached the policeman who was standing talking to two women next to his vehicle. They then allegedly both shot him at close range.
Both men then apparently removed the victim’s service firearm and fled the scene.
Nyirenda died at the scene. The post-mortem stated the cause of death as a “bullet wound to the chest.”
Mpumalanga police spokesman Brig Selvy Mohlala said they were indeed deeply saddened each time a policeman was killed. “It would take us two years to train a constable and after that they acquire more experience, therefore the loss of a member can never be replaced.”
The trial continues.
