Cops tight-lipped over developments in Comrades champ’s attack

Provincial police continued to remain tight-lipped over recent developments in the gruesome attack of Comrades marathon champion Nick Bester, despite an identikit of one the alleged assailants being finalised.

This after specialist serious violent and economic crime investigator Mike Bolhuis shared the sketch which was compiled with the assistance of police with Pretoria Rekord.

Although police spokesperson Brigadier Mathapelo Peters did not respond to attempts to obtain comment, a well-placed source confirmed the sketches were indeed compiled with the assistance of the police.

Speaking to Pretoria Rekord last week, Bolhuis revealed their private probe into the attack which left the 60-year-old with multiple injuries was at an advanced stage.

“We’re currently busy with the final stages of the investigation,” he said at the time, adding the stage included digital footage and forensic investigation.

Bester was discharged from hospital earlier this month after being admitted due to the injuries he sustained during the gruesome attack.

He was ambushed from behind and struck with a rock by a group of three men while hiking along the Magalies Mountain, near Amandasig.

He suffered three broken ribs, a broken cheekbone along with multiples cuts on his body and a gash on his head.

At the time, Bester’s son, Shaun, said it would take his father around six to eight weeks to recover.

An armed robbery docket was also opened for investigation.

Bester was said to have been robbed of an undisclosed amount of cash, phones, bank cards and his personal licensed firearm.

Just two weeks after Bester’s gruesome attack and robbery, a woman’s body was discovered by police after she had been reported kidnapped by her husband.

The woman, who was later identified as Martha Mhangi (about 35), was with her husband when they stopped on the roadside of the R80 Mabopane highway.

Her husband was tied up with a shoelace while she was taken and kept elsewhere.

The couple had also been robbed of their valuables.

After the discovery of the woman’s body, Akasia police spokesperson Constable Lindiwe Mdluli declared the mountain range a crime hotspot.

“We’ve mobilised the crime prevention unit to patrol that area frequently because we’ve realised it is becoming an area of concern and threat to the residents,” she said, adding that people who used the route to exercise or parked along the roadside should be vigilant around the area.

Mdluli further said that while they were investigating all the dockets which had been opened for investigation, the motive behind several other attacks which had also occurred along the mountain range appeared to be the same – robbery and, “sometimes” rape.