Police are looking for answers as to why a truck driver from Delmas was murdered on the outskirts of Standerton last week.

With nothing amiss besides a cellphone and the truck keys, detectives are trying to piece together who killed the 34-year-old Siyabonga Emmanuel Mbatha sometime around Monday night, 4 May.

Mbatha’s body was found in a field, several metres from his coal truck along the R50 on Tuesday morning.

According to police spokesperson Sergeant Johannes Ndaba, Mbatha was employed by Sakuku Transport. He was transporting coal from the Delmas area to Majuba Power Station in Volksrust at the time of his murder.

Another truck driver, a colleague, was also travelling to Majuba on Monday and noticed Mbatha’s truck by the road. He did not see Mbatha in the truck and proceeded past.

“However, he became concerned when, on his way back to Delmas, he saw Mbatha’s truck still in the same spot.”

Ndaba said the colleague, knowing that Mbatha had never offloaded his cargo at Majuba, stopped and walked over to Mbatha’s truck to find out if something was wrong. He found the cab door open and began looking around for his friend.

“It was then that he spotted Mbatha’s body several metres away. He alerted the police,” said Ndaba.
Mbatha’s hands were tied behind his back, and he had been strangled.

Ndaba said Mbatha’s cellphone was missing, and police could also not locate the truck key. The manager of Sakuku, Johannes Sibeko, later arrived at the scene with a spare key.

Mbatha’s family travelled from Dundee to identify his body.

Ndaba asked anyone with information, or who drove past Mbatha’s stationary truck and noticed anything suspicious in the area, to contact the investigating officer, Detective Constable Sabelo Madonsela, on 079 509 0009.

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