MBOMBELA – A constable from Tonga SAPS was added as the seventh accused in a hijacking and murder case following the death of Kruger National Park aircraft-maintenance engineer, Mr Teboho Ntabe in November last year.
Const Nhlanhla Phillip Mavimbela appeared in the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
He was charged with defeating the ends of justice and accessory to a robbery after being arrested over the weekend. Mavimbela will appear alongside the other six accused when they return to court on February 16. According to a press release by the SAPS provincial office on Wednesday, Mavimbela’s co-accused are Messrs Thamsanqa Lungelo Shongwe (23), Bheki Maxwell Mkaya (24), Sakhile Vuyo Moshaga (21), Thabiso Malele (20), Mxolisi Irvin Khoza (25) and Esseu Thabiso Mndlovu (21). Lowvelder previously reported that Ntabe was asleep in his Ford Ranger in the early hours of November 1 when he was allegedly hijacked by three of the accused. He broke free from their grip and ran across the road but was fatally hit by an oncoming Polo Vivo. “The suspects who hijacked the bakkie went to Tonga to sell it. Mavimbela was allegedly interested in buying the bakkie.
“It was when the accused reached the Nkomazi Toll Gate that they realised they did not have toll money. They notified Mavimbela. He then made arrangements with another police official working at Kaapmuiden police station to assist the accused with money.”
The official who was instructed to lend the money to the accused saw the bakkie that they were driving and became suspicious.
“He began to question the four remaining occupants of the bakkie regarding its ownership. Meanwhile, Tracker also received signal of the bakkie that had been reported stolen.” Shongwe, Mkhaya, Moshaga and Malele were arrested on the spot. Mndlovu’s arrest followed a few days later and Khoza, who managed to escape, was apprehended in December. Mkaya, Moshaga, Malele and Khoza are out on bail of R1 500 and bail of R1 000 was granted to Mavimbela on Monday. Shongwe and Mndlovu were reportedly denied bail.
* Lowvelder reported on this case in the edition of December 23. In this report, the accused were identified as Messrs Thamsanqa Lungelo Shongwe, Bheki Maxwell Mkaya, Sakhile Vuyo Moshaga, Thabiso Malele, Mxolisi Irvin Khoza and Uzayk Gaffar. These names were obtained from the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court’s integrated case-management system (ICMS).
On January 7, the paper confirmed that the names of the five accused on the police’s records and that of the Department of Justice did not correspond.
This was brought under the attention of the spokesman for Mbombela SAPS. On January 13, this query was redirected to the SAPS spokesman on provincial level.
On February 2, it was confirmed that the charge sheet and the ICMS records in this case did not correspond with regards to the fifth accused, who is in fact Mr Esseu Thabiso Mndlovu.
This was confirmed by the SAPS on February 10. Lowvelder apologises for any inconvenience caused.
