Suspect arrested for 2022 murder of EFF councillor

The North West police have made a breakthrough in the murder investigation of the late Tsietsi Mohulatsi, an EFF councillor who was killed in October 2022. A 29-year-old suspect was arrested in Gauteng on Monday.

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SUSPECT ARRESTED FOR MURDER OF EFF COUNCILLOR

At the time of his murder, Mohulatsi was a councillor in the Rustenburg Local Municipality. His body was found inside his vehicle at the Freedom Park Informal settlement outside Phokeng in the early hours of Tuesday, 4 October 2022.

“The victim’s body was spotted by passers-by who reported the incident to the police,” said Brigadier Sabata Mokgwabone.

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The suspect, Makintane Kabelo Machete, was arrested by the Bojanala Trio Task Team in Bekkersdal, Gauteng, after an intensive investigation.

The probe found that the EFF councillor was robbed during the murder. His bank card was used to purchase clothes in Rustenburg and Pretoria.

BAFOKENG COURT APPEARANCE

Machete appeared in the Bafokeng Magistrate’s Court in Tlhabane on Wednesday, 28 June – two days after his arrest – on charges of murder, kidnapping, robbery, fraud and contravention of the Immigration Act.

The accused was remanded in custody and is due back in the same court on Thursday, 24 August.

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“The Provincial Commissioner [Lieutenant General Sello Kwena] applauded the team members for following all the leads and working tirelessly to ensure that the alleged perpetrator is brought to book to face the full might of the law,” said the police spokesperson.

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