An off-duty Nelspruit police captain was killed during a shoot-out at a KaNyamazane carwash on Saturday night, January 13.

No arrests have yet been made and the police are still looking for the suspect.

The Mpumalanga Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation’s (Hawks) spokesperson, Captain Dineo Sekgotodi, said Captain Sibusiso Bethwell Mthombothi (44) had taken his vehicle to a carwash in KaNyamazane that Saturday. While he was waiting for his car to be washed, another vehicle reportedly bumped into his.

Sekgotodi said the captain and the person who bumped into his vehicle discussed the matter in the presence of a police sergeant who was with the captain at the time of the incident.

“An agreement was made for payment of R5 000 for the repairs of damages,” she said.

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She said it is understood that the sergeant drove the car belonging to the man who had bumped into the captain’s vehicle to the captain’s parents’ house, pending the arranged payment.

The sergeant left the captain and the man at the carwash and went home. It is alleged that an argument ensued between the suspect and the deceased. When the sergeant came back, he found the captain shot.

“According to witnesses, during the argument, the suspect had taken out a firearm and shot the deceased,” Sekgotodi said.

The captain died from his wounds.

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She said the sergeant tried to apprehend the suspect, but he was also fired at. The shooter fled the scene on foot.

A preliminary investigation was conducted by a team comprising of the Nelspruit Hawks Serious Organised Crime Investigation Unit, the Mpumalanga Provincial Organised Crime Unit, Nelspruit Crime Intelligence and the Local Criminal Record Centre.

The police are requesting anyone with information to contact the investigating officer, Captain Mduduzi Comfort Mkhonza, on 082 304 0052. All information received will be treated with the utmost confidentiality.

“The police are also urging Sibusiso Maseko from Marite, whom they believe can assist them in solving the murder case, to come forward by contacting Captain Mkhonza or reporting to his nearest police station,” Sekgotodi said.