Year-long manhunt ends with arrest of Chesterville man following public appeal
Sduduzo Mavundla who is charged with the attempted murder of his nephew has been arrested in the North West after evading police for a year.
Image: Supplied by SAPS
A 29-year-old man accused of attempting to murder his nine-year-old nephew in Chesterville has been arrested in the North West after evading police for more than a year.
The Office of the Provincial Commissioner of the South African Police Service in KwaZulu-Natal confirmed that Sduduzo Nkosikhona Mavundla was taken into custody on Tuesday evening, 25 November 2025, during an operation led by the Brits Crime Intelligence and the Brits Trio Task Team.
His arrest comes a day after police publicly appealed for community assistance to trace him.
Mavundla had absconded after being granted bail in connection with the attack on 4 January 2024 on his nephew.
He had allegedly lured his nephew into bushes in the Phola area of Chesterville under the pretence of buying him snacks.
According to police, he then told the child “that he would show his father what he was made of because the victim’s father was disrespecting his (Sduduzo’s) father,” before strangling him and stabbing him several times on the face.
The boy lost consciousness but later woke up and crawled to the roadside, where passersby assisted him and took him to hospital. During that time, Mavundla allegedly persuaded his mother to report the boy missing at the Cato Manor police station. He was later arrested but released on bail and subsequently failed to appear in court. A warrant for his arrest was issued in September 2024.
Police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said that after KZN authorities requested assistance, their North West counterparts located Mavundla in Itereleng Section, Hebron.
“The unsuspecting Sduduzo was watching soccer at one of the taverns when he was arrested,” he said.
Mavundla is expected to be transported to Durban, where he will appear in court.