Man held for Pretoria land claimant’s murder
A young man has handed himself to the Mamelodi West police in connection with the killing of Victor Velaphi Lekhuleni, the man who lodged a land claim for almost half of Pretoria earlier this year.
Gauteng police spokesperson Katlego Mogale said the 20-year-old would be charged with murder after surrendering to police on Wednesday morning, Rekord East reported.
Lekhuleni, 48, was killed outside his 16-year-old girlfriend’s home in Mamelodi West’s section C5 last week after he was confronted by a man who fired several shots at him. He was hit in the lower body and died on the scene.
His attacker searched him and took his licensed firearm before fleeing in Lekhuleni’s maroon BMW 7 Series.
“The suspect is charged with murder and hijacking and will briefly appear in the Mamelodi West Magistrates’ Court tomorrow,” said Mogale.
Following Lekhuleni’s murder, the regional land claims commission last week said it would continue to process the claim on behalf of the Bakgatla ba Lekhuleni community as ordered by the Land Claims Court.
In December last year, the Government Gazette published Lekhuleni’s claim to large parts of the Tshwane metro, saying his people, the Mkwaduba of the Bakgatla ba Lekhuleni, had been removed from the Franspoort farm by police during the 1950s and early 1960s.
The land claimed by Lekhuleni included Wapadrand, Die Wilgers, Silverton, Koedoespoort and several schools, churches and shopping centres and government property. It also included parts of Mamelodi, Baviaanspoort prison and Derdepoort in the north of the Tshwane Metro. It is believed about 500 privately owned properties would be affected by the claim.
– Caxton News Service
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