As South Africans revelled in rugby glory, a task team of 15 policemen worked tirelessly until they arrested five people in connection with the murder of reggae singer Lucky Dube.
"I am convinced we have the right guys," said Commissioner Richard Mdluli on Sunday, hours after the arrests.
'Since the murder we have had sleepless nights'
The breakthrough came three days after the music icon was shot dead in front of his two children in Rosettenville, Johannesburg, during a botched hijacking. Continues Below ↓
"This means a lot, both for the police and the country. Since the murder we have had sleepless nights," Mdluli said, explaining that both National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi and Gauteng Commissioner Perumal Naidoo had congratulated the task team.
But while detectives have five suspects, aged between 31 and 35, behind bars, they are tight-lipped on details and continue to work furiously on the case.
They claim "more arrests and links to other crimes cannot be excluded".
'He did not deserve to die in that manner'
According to provincial police spokesperson Superintendent Lungelo Dlamini, a team of 15 detectives was set up and started working fresh on the case early on Friday.
The team was led by Director Charles Johnson.
It is understood that, working with what little evidence was garnered at the murder scene, the detectives tracked down five suspects in the greater Spruitview area on the East Rand.
Shortly before dawn on Sunday, detectives pounced and arrested the men as they slept.
One suspect, the owner of the well-secured house, was said to have been in possession of suspected stolen property.
Police took two flat-screen TVs, a DVD player and a sound system found in the house.
A dustbin bag full of surgical gloves - possibly used in the commission of crimes - was also seized.
At 11.45am, while detectives were still busy at the Spruitview house, Mdluli triumphantly announced that his detectives had located, in nearby Kwa-Thema, the vehicle believed to have been used by Dube's killers.
It was found parked in the front yard of a small stone house owned by Papa Jack Mbokazi.
Sitting in his yard as detectives scoured the car for fingerprints, Mbokazi said: "Somebody - the owner of a panel-beater and a guy I know - asked me if he could park this car in my yard yesterday.
"I was very surprised when the police arrived here, but I stand with them 100 percent. They are doing a very good job."
Superintendent Eugene Opperman, reluctant to divulge more details of the case, said speculation was rife about a hit on Dube or a possible assassination.
"But our investigations endorse the view that this was a botched hijacking.
"The firearms we seized will be sent for ballistic and forensic tests to see if they have been used before in violent or serious crimes."
Opperman said they were asking for co-operation "as we plan to say as little as possible. We cannot give out any more information as it will jeopardise our investigations".
Identification parades still had to be conducted.
Speaking soon after the arrests, poet Mzwakhe Mbuli said that while "our wounds are still open and the nation is in mourning, we breathe a sigh of relief at news that the suspects have been nabbed".
He had been in touch with Dube's family, who were on Sunday in Newcastle, where they were busy with funeral arrangements.
"They remain devastated. For them, it was their son who was murdered and he did not deserve to die in that manner," Mbuli said.
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