DURBAN - Police officers from the Ladysmith Tactical Response Team (TRT) and Bergville Visible Policing have arrested a murder suspect after he was found in possession of his victim's bakkie, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Saturday.
Police officers were conducting an operation on Friday afternoon when they received a tracker signal of a stolen vehicle, Colonel Thembeka Mbele said.
Police proceeded to Emmaus in the Bergville policing precinct where a vehicle was seized from the suspect. Preliminary investigation revealed that the vehicle was stolen in March in the Emashiselweni Reserve, where the 70-year-old owner had been killed.
The suspect was arrested and charged with possession of suspected stolen property. He was also facing charges of murder and robbery that were opened at Besters Police Station. He would appear in court on Monday, Mbele said.
In an unrelated incident, Paulpietersburg police officers were conducting anti-crime operations in their policing area when information was received of men selling livestock.
Police proceeded to Edumbe main road where a vehicle with four occupants was spotted. A search was conducted and three goats were found inside the vehicle's boot. The suspects were arrested and charged with possession of suspected stolen property.
They would appear in the Paulpietersburg Magistrate's Court soon. Police were investigating to determine where the livestock was stolen from and if the suspects could be linked to pending cases of stock theft, Mbele said.