By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
SA Police Services (SAPS) arrested a suspect’s parents for tipping him off to evade arrest in connection with gruesome murder of 30 year-old Olorato Mongale.
Mongale’s body was discovered on Sunday in Lombardy, north of Johannesburg, about two hours after she was reported missing having gone on a date.
CCTV footage showed her leaving a location in Kew, Johannesburg, and walking towards a white VW Polo, with fake licence plates.
Her friends said she was invited for a date by a man, who she had met in Johannesburg, where she was studying for a postgraduate degree at Witwatersrand University.
She texted one of her friends shortly before leaving home, saying that she was excited and getting ready for her date.
But police later found her body in an open field, sparking public outrage and calls for justice.
The police announced on social media that they had taken into custody the parents of one of the suspects, who is currently on the run.
The father is the owner of the VW Polo, while the mother is believed to have tipped off the son that police are at the parents’ house looking for him,” Saps said.
The mother’s actions allowed their son to evade arrest on Wednesday evening, the police said. When officers arrived in Inanda, KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), where the suspect stayed, he had already left.
Police are appealing to the public to assist in locating Fezile Ngubane, Philangenkosi Makhanya and Bongani Mthimkhulu, who have been identified as wanted suspects in the investigation.
Earlier on Thursday, police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe revealed that the police arrested Mthimkhulu and Makhanya last on 20 April, on charges of kidnapping and robbery in the Brockbunny area and they were granted bail.
These suspects are warned to hand themselves over at their nearest police station.
Mongale’s killing has sparked a fierce debate about the levels of violence faced by women in the country.
Between January and March this year, 137 women were murdered and more than 1,000 raped, according to South Africa’s most recent crime statistics.
In 2020, an average of one woman died at the hands of her intimate partner every eight hours, according to a study by the University of the Free State.
In 2019, South Africa ranked among the five countries with the highest rates of the murder of women, according to the United Nations.