By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Sello Machitje, the deputy director of the Department of Water and Sanitation, has been found dead, the family confimed.
Machitje was reported missing after a hijacking incident on Monday, 8 July.
On the day of the incident, family spokesman Kgosi Makgorogo Sello reported that Machitje left his home at about 5pm for the Eastern Cape. Normally, he would call to confirm his arrival, but on that day, he didn’t, which caused concern among his wife and sister.
“Between 8pm and 9pm his wife tried calling, but his phone went unanswered. “His sister also tried calling him almost an hour later, at about 10pm, but still his phone did not go through, “Kgosi said.
He said that as the hours passed, the family became worried and called the tracker company to check on the vehicle.
“When they called tracker comapny to check on the vehicle, they refused to give the location and said they needed a case number.
“The family went to the police station to open a missing persons case. At the time, they didn’t get a case number but rather an OB number, which was given to the tracker, which later was able to locate the car,” he said.
According to Kgosi, the car had been roaming between Alexandra and Marlboro, north of Joburg, and later confirmed to have been found in Alexandra without Sello.
“The car was found, but he was not in it. We found a receipt in his bakkie that showed he put in petrol in Pretoria at about 3.30pm,” he said.
She said the police, together with private security, traced Sello’s vehicle to Alexandra, where a 53-year-old suspect was arrested for possession of a stolen and hijacked vehicle.
Gauteng police spokesperson Noxolo Kweza says the suspect is yet to be linked to Machitje’s murder.
“The person was confirmed by the family as that of Sello Machitje. The investigations are ongoing to link at the possible link between the person who was arrested for the possession of his vehicle and the murder itself.”
Kweza stated that the investigation is ongoing to establish a possible link between the suspect and the murder.
In 2022-23, South Africa recorded cases of kidnapping increased by 41.7%, attempted murders rose by 13.7%, while reported carjacking incidents increased by 8.5%, compared to the previous year, according to annual statistics.