Court remands alleged North West cop killers

Four men who allegedly killed a police officer and dumped his body next to a road last month have been remanded by a North West court.

Two of the suspects, Elvis Hlongwane, 29, and Alexander Hobjana, 40, appeared in the Ventersdorp magistrate’s court on Friday to face charges of murder, carjacking and robbery. 

North West Hawks spokesperson Lt-Col Tinyiko Mathebula said on July 17, W/O Gaonathebe Diphephenyane was travelling from Kimberley to Rustenburg on an official trip when he was allegedly hijacked in Klerkskraal.

“The member was robbed of the state vehicle, cellphone and money. The member’s lifeless body, with signs of strangulation, was found dumped next to a road,” said Mathebula.

Diphephenyane was responsible for crime scene management in the Northern Cape and was travelling to North West to testify in court when he was killed.

Mathebula said a team comprising the Hawks’ serious organised crime investigation unit, police crime intelligence unit, North West and Northern Cape provincial detectives and criminal record and crime scene management was assembled to work on the case.

The team gathered information which led to to the arrests of the four suspectsbetween July 31 and August 2.  

The case against Hlongwane and Hobjana was postponed until next Friday for a formal bail application.

The other two suspects, Thabiso Phendela, 29, and Sthembiso Molaba, 31, appeared in the Ventersdorp magistrate’s court on Wednesday. They were also remanded and their case postponed until September for further investigation. 

The head of the North West Hawks, Maj-Gen Patrick Mbotho, commended the team’s swiftness in tracing and arresting the suspects. 

TimesLIVE

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