Police are looking for Dennis Nyatsunga/Ngobeni, also known as Shumba. (South African Police Service/Supplied)

• Gauteng police are looking for a suspect in connection with the death of four people in Soshanguve.
• Police are offering R100 000 for information leading to the arrest and successful conviction of Dennis Nyatsunga/Ngobeni, also known as Shumba.
• Police say the public should consider him “armed and very dangerous”, and should not attempt to apprehend him. 

Gauteng police are offering a R100 000 reward for information that will
lead to the arrest and conviction of the gunmen who opened fire on four people
in Soshanguve and burnt two girls – aged 4 and 7 – inside a shack more than two
weeks ago. 

Gauteng police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Mavela Masondo said the
attacks occurred at the Changing Spots informal settlement on Sunday, 2 June.

READ | Man, 35, arrested for Soshanguve shebeen shooting, but
not linked to shack fire deaths of 2 girls

News24 previously reported that a man and a woman were killed in the
tavern shooting, while four other people were injured.

“The suspects then proceeded to a shack in the same area, where
they allegedly set alight the shack in which two young girls were sleeping.
[The children] were both certified dead on the scene,” Masondo said. 

A preliminary investigation suggested that the gunmen were after the
father of the girls, who was not home at the time. 

READ | Soshanguve children’s murder linked to their father’s extortion racket

On Monday, police said they were hunting down one of the suspects,
Dennis Nyatsunga or Ngobeni, also known as Shumba, in connection with the four
murders.

Police said the suspect was also facing charges of attempted murder and
arson.

Masondo said:

“The public is advised not to attempt to apprehend the suspect
because he is considered armed and very dangerous.” 

On 9 June, police arrested a 35-year-old man in Akasia, in the north of
Pretoria, in connection with the shootings at the tavern.  

Masondo said police also recovered a vehicle they believe was used
“during the commission of the crime”. 

“More suspects might be arrested in this case pending further
investigation,” Masondo said at the time of the first arrest. 

READ | Soshanguve woman on trial for murder of ex-lover tells court they were having an affair

The man appeared in the Pretoria North Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday,
where he was charged with murder and attempted murder relating to the shebeen
shooting. 

The hearing was in camera because the accused must still undergo an
identity parade, and journalists were not allowed inside the courtroom.

However, following the accused’s brief first appearance, National
Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said the man had not been
linked to the murder of the two girls.

Instead, he has been charged with one count of murder and five counts of
attempted murder in connection with the shooting at the shebeen.

Mahanjana said the accused had also been charged with two counts of
arson relating to the setting alight of the shebeen and another home, not the
one in which the two girls were sleeping.

The man has also been accused of being in South Africa illegally.

The case was postponed to 19 June.

Justice Minister Ronald Lamola condemned the “heinous and
senseless” killing of the children. 

Lamola said:

He added that it was unconscionable that such a horrific incident
occurred during a period when the country was commemorating Child Protection
Week from 1 to 7 June.

The minister said the full might of the law must be exercised to ensure
justice for the victims and their families.

Anyone with information about the suspect’s whereabouts is asked to
contact Major-General Mbuso Khumalo on 082 556 8642 or Lieutenant Colonel
Andile Mankayi on 082 413 2141.

All information will be treated with confidentiality.