BCJ and police play vital role in conviction of Annatjie Myburgh murderers

MBOMBELA –  Selby Mabila (28) and Paul Mathebula (34) were found guilty in the Mpumalanga Division of the High Court on Thursday.

Myburgh disappeared from her home in White River on June 15, 2016. Her vehicle was also missing and the SAPS suspected hijacking and kidnapping.

Her body was found early on June 19, 2016 outside White River, in the bush on the way to Numbi.
Former BCJ member and policeman Danie Theron had helped in the search and crime investigation, and had testified in court about the evidence discovered at the scene.

“It is nice to know the hard work had a positive outcome with the conviction,” said Theron.

He and Albert Gryvenstein had secured the crime scene on the day she disappeared. “I had found pangas and a backpack at the front gate and discovered her vehicle was missing.”

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Theron, who had decades of experience with the SAPS in the K9 Search and Rescue Unit, tracked two pairs of footprints leading from the Vergenhoeg Road towards Myburgh’s home. “I remember the one print had a distinct All Stars tekkie pattern and some of the parts were worn thin. The other was an unusual pattern.”

He contacted Capt Ivan Swart from the police K9 unit, who arrived at the scene. Theron showed him what he had found and he took plaster casts of the prints.

He said BCJ had put out a notice to the public offering rewards for the capture and conviction of the culprits. “I still remember hoping and praying Annatjie would still be found alive at that time.”

Theron said Mabila’s girlfriend contacted them, saying she had seen Myburgh’s hijacked Pajero, and who had taken it. “One of the policemen recognised who he was, as he arrested him before in another case.”

Gryvenstein said White River police’s WO Hendrik Grobler, the investigating officer of the case, had played a major role in finding the culprits and bringing them to book. “We hired a taxi and put police in civilian clothes in it. They drove to a tavern and arrested Mabila there.”

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Theron said when they arrested Mabila he noticed that he was wearing All Star tekkies with the same worn out areas, matching the footprints he had found at Myburgh’s home.

After this, Lt Col Dirk Hall took Mabila for an interrogation where he revealed where he and Mathebula had hidden the car and Myburgh’s body.

“We were all shocked to find out that she had been murdered. If he had not shown the police where her body was, we would have kept looking for her for ages.”

Theron said after they arrested Mabila, they discovered Mathebula’s number on his phone. “We found out he was on the run and planning to leave the country.”

Mathebula was arrested in the bush near the Kruger National Park. “We tracked him and when we arrested him I noticed he was not wearing the shoes matching my print I had found.”

Mathebula took the police and BCJ to where he had been renting a room. “When we went inside, I saw the shoes that matched the print we had found at the scene.”

Gryvenstein concluded that he was elated and hoped that their sentence would be long. “I just want to congratulate Grobler and his team for their hard work on this case.”