Western Cape man nabbed after killing spree

A man believed to have killed five people in one evening in October 2022 has finally been arrested by the Serious Violence Crimes (SVC) detectives of the South African Police Service (Saps), this week.

According to police spokesperson, Brigadier Novela Potelwa, the detectives were alerted to the murders of five individuals in October last year, which occurred in Philippi East, in Cape Town, at three different crime scenes.

At the time, they were not able to track down and arrest the culprit.

Brigadier Potelwa said that it was later, when the SVC detectives were conducting a search and seizure operation in the same vicinity of where the murders occurred, that they found a person with two unlicensed firearms.

Ballistics testing

Potelwa confirmed that the firearms were immediately confiscated and were subsequently sent for ballistics testing.

When the results came back, it was noted that the firearms were believed to have been used in the commission of the five murders.

Potelwa said that the 20-year-old man, who was found with the firearms was immediately placed under arrest and charged with the five counts of murder.

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The brigadier also confirmed that the suspect appeared in the Athlone Magistrates’ Court on 8 March 2023.

“The suspect is also charged with illegal possession of firearms and ammunition. Further investigations are currently underway and detectives are looking into whether the suspect can be linked to other murders,” she concluded.

Elderly man found with 9mm

Meanwhile, in a separate incident, a 63-year-old man was also nabbed for possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition in OR Tambo District in Mthatha during police operations last week.

According to Saps spokesperson, Warrant Officer Majola Nkohli, a search was conducted on a house located in Jambeni Section in Lusikisiki, which resulted in the seizure of a 9mm pistol along with live rounds of ammunition.

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The elderly man was immediately apprehended and charged.

Nkohli said, after this, the same police members then raided a house in the Mhlakulo Location in Lower Ngwara, where a 9mm Norinco was recovered and a 26-year-old man was arrested for being in possession of an unlicensed firearm.

Acting Provincial Commissioner, Major General Zithulele Dladla said: “We are going to intensify these operations and also infiltrate into other problematic districts in order to remove firearms, which are in the hands of the wrong people”.