- The Hawks have made another arrest in connection with the murder of former politician and activist Loyiso Nkohla.
- The unit traced and arrested a 38-year-old man in Katlehong, Tshwane, on Monday.
- Nkohla died in a hail of bullets near Philippi Train Station in April this year.
The Hawks have made another arrest in connection with the murder of former politician and activist Loyiso Nkohla, who was gunned down at a community meeting in Philippi, Cape Town, on 17 April.
Three other people, including a pregnant woman and a former ANC councillor, were injured when four gunmen opened fire.
Nkohla was involved in relocating people who had occupied the railway station and parts of the railway line at Philippi.
The Hawks managed to trace and arrest a second suspect, a 38-year-old man, in Katlehong, Tshwane, on Monday.
He is expected to appear in Pretoria Central Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Siyabulela Vukubi said:
It is believed that Nkohla was targeted for his role in talks to clear Metrorail’s Central Line, where families had built their homes.
The Hawks arrested the first suspect, 38-year-old Zukisa Tshabile, on 27 October.
“He made an appearance in the Athlone Magistrate’s Court and the matter was remanded until 15 February 2024 for further investigation,” Vukubi said.
Hawks Western Cape head Major-General Mathipa Makgato lauded the team that is investigating the case for the strides it has made to bring the perpetrators before the court of law.
Nkohla rose to prominence in 2013 when he, along with ANC politician Andile Lili, led protests focused on poor sanitation in Makhaza and other informal settlements in Cape Town.
The pair, under the Ses’khona People’s Rights Movement, dumped faeces at the Cape Town International Airport and on the steps of the Western Cape legislature in Wale Street to highlight the plight of people living in informal settlements.
Andile Lili and Chumile Salie during the memorial service of Loyiso Nkohla Mabandla (40) at Mew Way Hall in Khayelitsha on 25 April 2023 in Cape Town, South Africa. Nkohla was shot and killed in broad daylight by gunmen who stormed inside the former Browns Farm Police Station.
News24 previously reported that the state alleges that Tshabile was hired by a “mastermind” to kill Nkohla.
The plot allegedly stems from a dispute over the non-payment of workers, with Nkohla intervening.
The suspected mastermind, allegedly linked to Tshabile through cellphone and bank records, is the owner of a security company that employed the disgruntled workers, according to National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila.
Sections of Cape Town’s problematic Central Line, which stretches from the city centre to Khayelitsha and Mitchells Plain, were illegally occupied during the Covid-19 pandemic-induced lockdown.
Nkohla, who was enlisted as a community facilitator by the Passenger Rail Agency of SA to negotiate the relocation of the occupiers so the railway line could reopen, was gunned down during a meeting near the Philippi Train Station.
It’s alleged that the security company referenced by Ntabazalila was also involved in the railway recovery programme.
Recent Comments