Port Elizabeth - Three more suspects have been arrested in connection with the brutal rape and murder of a Port Elizabeth teenager about 10 days ago, the South African Police Service (SAPS) in the Eastern Cape said.
"Early morning operations [on Friday] in search for the outstanding suspects implicated in the murder of Patronicia (Mandy) Jordaan, 14, proved successful when three suspects were arrested at different houses in Gelvandale [in Port Elizabeth]," SAPS Eastern Cape spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu said in a statement.
SAPS Gelvandale detectives, with the assistance of the anti-gang unit and public order policing, arrested the three suspects, aged 38, 30, and 21, at houses in Deverill, Leith, and Standford roads. The suspects were arrested between 4 am and 6 am on Friday morning.
They were detained on charges of rape and murder and would appear in the Port Elizabeth Magistrates’ Court on Monday. Further arrests were expected, Naidu said.
Five alleged gangsters were arrested in connection with the case last weekend and appeared in court on Monday. They were remanded in custody until March 24.
It was alleged that at about 8.30 am on Thursday, January 7, police received information of a body of a teenage girl lying in bushes between Gelvandale and Algoa Park in Port Elizabeth, Naidu said in a statement at the time.
She sustained multiple stab wounds and was identified as Jordaan, from Kobus Road in Helenvale. She was last seen by a relative on Monday, January 4 in Kobus Road, Naidu said.
The SAPS 72-hour activation plan was immediately implemented and a task team comprising of SAPS Gelvandale detectives, crime intelligence officers, the provincial crime scene investigation unit, anti-gang unit , public order policing, CIT combatting team, and the state pathologist's office was established.
The hunt for the suspects began at 6am on Saturday morning, January 9, and at about 7.15 am the first two suspects were arrested at a house in Old Stanford Road. A few minutes later, three other suspects were rounded up at houses in Bongo and Pienaar streets. All the suspects had gang affiliations and were aged between 18 and 33.
It was further alleged that on Tuesday evening, January 5, at about 9.30 pm, Jordaan was in the accompany of 12 men at a house in Bongo Street "which is used for smoking drugs".
"She was allegedly gang raped. At about [3 am] on Wednesday, 6 January 2021, everyone left the house and split up with Ms Jordaan in the company of six males. On Thursday, 7 January 2021, her body was discovered, Naidu said.
African News Agency (ANA)