Johannesburg - The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has remained mum on the spate of kidnapping and carjacking cases involving a pair who have been linked to a string of carjacking crimes involving football players and other high-profile individuals in Gauteng.
One of the suspects believed to have been the mastermind in the hijacking of Orlando Pirates striker Vincent Pule has been linked along with his co-accused to the recent kidnapping of Gomora director Kutlwano Ditsele, who was recently kidnapped outside his Johannesburg home on March 10.
The suspect, Lehlohonolo Maitse, appeared before the Booysens Magistrate’s Court on a spate of other kidnapping, hijacking and murder charges yesterday. He is set to join his co-accused, Mbuso Ncaza Nkosi, at the Vosloorus Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, April 4.
This is after they appeared in the same court last Friday following their arrest five days after subjecting the famous film director to a 15-hour hostage situation.
Last year, the pair, aged 32 and 40, were arrested by the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) and the SAPS after they were found with a stolen BMW 1 Series belonging to Orlando Pirates star Vincent Pule after he was hijacked in Joburg South on July 31.
On March 10, the award-winning director and film-maker Ditsele took to social media to relay his 15-hour kidnapping ordeal, in which he was kept hostage by the two suspects who had been out on bail at the time of the kidnapping.
It is reported that the two kidnapped the executive producer at gunpoint outside his Northern Suburbs home and took him to an undisclosed location, where they forced him to share access to his online bank accounts. He was later released after the two suspects had emptied his accounts.
Ditsele said he was grateful to have escaped with his life, but had lost his sense of safety in the process.
“This picture was taken exactly seven days to the hour after I was released from a harrowing 15-hour hijacking experience outside my house and taken to an unknown location. I was unharmed and had my gadgets and money from my bank account emptied,” Ditsele said.
For this case, the two will be appearing for their bail hearing before the Vosloorus Magistrate’s Court.
Some of the cases date as far back as 2006 and include kidnapping, robbery, murder, housebreaking and robbery, often targeting Gauteng’s well-to-do individuals. According to a police report, this is one of many cases in which the pair used a similar modus operandi to steal by kidnapping and hijacking their unsuspecting and affluent victims.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, one of the court officials said they are left with no choice but to speak out against what they believe to be the co-ordinated and well-orchestrated work of a syndicate that continues to be brazen with each crime they complete.
“We just can’t sit back and do nothing when we see that criminals are now getting away with murder. These suspects were out on bail and still continued committing similar crimes in spite of pending cases against them. This syndicate is unrelenting and violent and targets those who seem to be well-off. It is frustrating to see these syndicates operate with impunity,” the court official said.
According to a police report, police working with private security pounced on the syndicate on March 15 at a property in Dawn Park, Ekurhuleni. They have since been charged with possession of the hijacked vehicle belonging to the Ayeye director and possession of a jamming device.
They appeared in court for the first time last Friday and admitted to being violent repeat offenders.
According to the NPA, Ncaza Nkosi, who appears as accused number two, features at number five on a 2022 list of most wanted for the worst crimes committed and is also wanted in Swaziland for the murder of businessman Victor Gamedze.
His co-accused was previously charged with various violent crimes, including attempted murder, carjacking, house robbery, and kidnapping, among many others, and is out on bail for the alleged carjacking of the Orlando Pirates midfielder's car found in his possession.
According to another court official who did not want to be named, the two suspects have been linked with two other hijackings of Orlando Pirates players.
“Today, we met with Orlando Pirates officials at their offices. We learnt that three of their players have been hijacked, with one other player from the Kaizer Chiefs also reported to have been one of their victims. So now we are expanding the investigation because Pule was also part of the meeting,” the official, who is part of the investigations, said.
The Star