Johannesburg - A man believed to be part of a gang involved in truck hijackings shot and killed himself when he was cornered by police in a room he was renting in Emndeni, Soweto, on Monday morning.
Police started conducting raids at about 3am looking for the gang that had been terrorising motorists for several months, said police spokesman Mpande Khoza.
He said the gang targeted delivery trucks at malls in Soweto.
The suspects would hijack the trucks and rob the occupants of valuables such as laptops and cellphones. The suspect, Bonginkosi Ndlovu, who was identified by his family at the scene, was also known as “Bebeto”.
Khoza said police had been investigating hijackings for the past three months. There were six cases related to the gang that were being investigated by Dobsonville police station, and several others by Naledi and Moroka police stations.
“This gang has been operating in many townships in Soweto. They have also been involved in hijackings where victims were locked in the boot and they used the vehicle to commit crimes. Once they are done, they leave the victim in the boot. They would then tell the victim where he would find the car keys once he had been freed,” he said.
One of the suspects had been linked to the murder of Madibuseng Ramohai, a pregnant woman who was shot dead in front of her children when two men hijacked her at their school in Bramfischerville. Her car was later abandoned in nearby Dobsonville.
Resident Lindiwe Shandu said she heard a noise in the yard at about 5am on day.
“I heard people shouting, saying: ‘Open! Police, police! Open!’ I saw police officers holding firearms. A few seconds later, I heard the sound of a gun, then I heard his girlfriend screaming,” she told The Star.
Ndlovu, 25, had only moved into the back room last month, she said.
“He was very quiet. He would just greet me and go into his room. But what was strange about him was that he was always wearing hooded jackets,” Shandu recalled.
Ndlovu’s distraught relatives gathered at the scene.
“I chased him away yesterday and told him I was bathing when he knocked at the door saying he wanted to see me.
“I should have opened the door and said goodbye to him,” said one relative.
Khoza said there were several gangs in Soweto that were involved in hijackings, but the police were closing in on the suspects.
He said all police stations in Soweto were investigating hijackings that could possibly be linked to this gang. He said they were hoping to make more arrests.
Khoza is urging all victims of hijackings in Soweto to come forward. “They will (be invited) to the ID parade to see if they know any of the suspects.”