A JOINT effort between police in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal led to the arrest of a murder suspect wanted in connection with the killing of a whistle-blower.

Minehle Mthembu (30), who was wanted for conspiracy to commit murder as well as the murder of Marumo Eric Phenya, a businessman and whistle-blower on corruption in a multi-million rand tender at a government department in Gauteng, was arrested in a sting operation on Tuesday.

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According to police reports, Phenya was ambushed and killed after dropping his children at a school in Roodeport on 17 October 2022.

Prior to his death, he and his wife had received threatening messages and a case was opened. Phenya was killed several weeks later.

“Police in Gauteng contacted their KwaZulu-Natal counterparts with information that the suspect they were looking for was in KZN,” read the police report.

A multidisciplinary team was immediately put together in KZN, and on 6 February, the team gathered intelligence that Mthembu was in hiding in Mtubatuba.

A warrant of arrest was executed on Tuesday, 10 February, and Mthembu was subsequently arrested.

He appeared briefly in the Mtubatuba Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, before being handed over to the Gauteng investigating officers and transferred to that province.

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KZN provincial commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi applauded the effective collaboration between police in Gauteng and KZN.

“KZN is not a hiding place for criminals. We are making an appeal to our community members not to harbour criminals, but instead tip off the police so we may rid our society of dangerous criminals,” said Mkhwanazi.

“This collaboration is a message to criminals that police will find you even if you run to a different province. There is nowhere to hide from the mighty arm of the law.”

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