Cape Town – Police have made another breakthrough in the murder of Ocean Basket seafood restaurant owner Lizette Deacon and her mother Hettie in Polokwane, Limpopo.
A domestic worker who was employed by the deceased and her 41-year-old boyfriend have been arrested.
The bodies of 55-year-old Lizette and her 70-year-old mother were found with stab wounds in an abandoned vehicle on the R37 next to the Kushcke off-ramp last Thursday.
It is alleged that the two women had been attacked in their home in Welgelegen near the Cycad Estate in Polokwane, then loaded into an SUV.
Two suspects were arrested on Sunday. The first suspect, aged 35, was arrested in Mokgoopong at about 2.35am and the second one in Polokwane at about 8am.
The suspects appeared in the Polokwane Magistrate's Court on Tuesday on charges relating to two counts of murder and house robbery. The 35-year-old suspect was also charged under the Immigration Act "as he is in the country illegally", police said.
Limpopo police spokesperson Motlafela Mojapelo said yesterday’s arrests are a major breakthrough for the case.
“A team of investigators that was assembled to track down the killers of a Polokwane businesswoman, Lizette Deacon and her mother Hettie, made a breakthrough when two more suspects, a domestic worker who was employed by the deceased and another suspect, aged 41, were arrested.
“Both suspects were arrested this morning, Friday 18 September in different places. The domestic worker aged 51, was arrested in Polokwane at about 8am and the other suspect was arrested in Ivory Park, Tembisa at about 9am.”
The two suspects will appear in the Polokwane Magistrate's Court on Monday on two counts of murder, house robbery and kidnapping.
Police are also appealing to the public to assist in finding a Zimbabwean official they suspect might know more.
“The police are also calling on Owen to avail himself at the nearest police station as it is believed he might assist in the ongoing investigations.
’’Owen, who is a Zimbabwean, uses either of the following as surnames; Setsiba, Makutara or Mbedzi,” Mojapelo says.
IOL