Pretoria - Six people arrested in connection with the brutal murder of the mayor of Collins Chabane Municipality in Limpopo, Councillor Moses Maluleka, are scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday morning.
Maluleka was shot dead at his house in Saselamani in July.
The sixth additional suspect, aged 31, will be joined by the other five murder accused who were previously arrested for the gruesome murder.
“The 31-year-old suspect, who was on the radar of the investigating team since the mayor was killed, was cornered in Thohoyandou on 30 October 2022. Before he could be apprehended, he allegedly started firing at the police, who returned fire and was in the process shot and injured,” Limpopo police spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo narrated.
He was then hospitalised.
“He is facing a series of other serious crimes, including the murder of a Legal Aid lawyer in Thohoyandou and business robberies committed in the Vhembe District,” said Mojapelo.
The suspect is scheduled to appear before the Malamulele Magistrate's Court today alongside his five alleged accomplices, who will be applying for bail.
Maluleke, aged 56, was gunned down at his home in Xikundu village on July 21 while he was with his 18-year-old son. His son was wounded in the incident.
The matter was transferred to Polokwane High Court for trial on May 29, 2023.
Collins Chabane local municipality was established after the August 2016 local elections with the merging of portions of two local municipalities: Thulamela and Makhado.
The municipality was named after Public Service and Administration Minister Collins Chabane, who was killed in a road accident on March 15, 2015, when a truck made a U-turn in front of his car on the N1 near Polokwane.
IOL