A shootout between him and the police ensued yesterday and he ran across the N1 and vanished. In the afternoon yesterday another shootout between him and community members continued and again, when they thought they got him, he disappeared.
Out of desperation, the community has made donations to a fund to finance the search of the suspect and has made an offer of R10 000 to anyone who will successfully give a lead to the arrest of the suspect.
The community of Kekana Gardens, Steve Biko Ville in Hammanskraal has resorted to taking the law into their hands after a man who is turning out to be like Houdini is terrorizing them with alleged over 12 murder cases linked to him since September 2014.
The hunt for the suspect who is known only as “Mphamo” is also linked to the killing of Tumelo Vincent Nkale, the man that Moretele Times reported that he was found dead after he went missing for about a week.
It is alleged that community members in a nearby village of Kanana, identified Mphamo and his friends as the suspects that dumped the car that Nkale was driving in their village after Nkale went missing.
When the community of Kekana approached the suspects to ask about the whereabouts of Nkale, they started disappearing one by one from the community.
It is suspected that they hijacked Nkale and because he knew them, they allegedly killed him and dumped him in a bush near Bosplaas, about 30 km away from Kekana.
The day after Nkale was found dead, the community then torched the house belonging to Mphamo’s mother as he was the main suspect and they believed his mother supported him in his activities.
It is alleged that Mphamo is responsible of a string of killings in the community and every time he is arrested he does not spend time in jail as his mother pays bail for him.
A source said the suspect has caused a lot of damage in the community.
“From what I can count, he is responsible for the death of over 12 people that the community suspects he killed since around September 2014,” said the source that cannot be identified for safety reason.
The community has also killed Mophamo’s cousin, who was also a suspect after they confronted him and he argued with them and insulted them. “They beat him up and he died in hospital,” said the source.
The community then moved on to a house belonging to Mophamo’s aunt and found the house deserted. “The community suspects someone from the meetings is giving the suspects tip-offs because every time a decision is taken, we find no one at the targeted houses.
“The community decided to burn the aunt’s house anyway after they found a mattress and traditional medicine in the house because of the believes that witchcraft is a motive for the killings,” the source said.
The community hesitated to burn down the ‘domba’ (traditional consulting room) at the back of the house as well because of the suspicions that the suspects activities are influenced by witchcraft.
“That is also why since yesterday the community wanted to burn down the grandmother’s house as well because they believe that she is the main source of all the evil activities of her grandson,’ the source said.
The grandmother is also alleged to have fled her house and is said to be with a relative elsewhere in the village for fear of her life.
Another of Mophamo’s friends was shot on Sunday and died on Tuesday in hospital. A hunt is also on for another friend of Mophamo who is believed to has gone into hiding.
On Monday 24th of July 2017, after torching the two houses, the community marched to Hammanskraal Police Station to deliver a memorandum with demands to arrest Mophamo by Friday 28 July 2017, before Nkale is buried on Saturday 29 July 2017.
Captain Herman Moremi said Cluster Commander for Tshwane North, Major General Hilder Mohajane, received the memorandum and has assured the community that the police will work harder to arrest the suspect.
In their memorandum, the community also called for the reshuffling of the police staff specially detectives as they suspect they are not doing their job. The community also want all pending and outstanding cases against the suspect to be resolved within five days from the date of the memorandum.
The community further stressed that they do not want to see Police vehicles at suspected drug lord’s houses as it is felt that the very people who are expected to protect them are betraying them by working with known drug lords.
The community requested that the suspect’s identity picture be circulated in the media and public places to help identify him easily so that he can be arrested before Nkale’s funeral.
Sergeant Margaret Molela of Hammanskraal Police said after the shootout yesterday between the police and the suspect, the search continues as he fled.