In yet another twist, it has emerged that a man who died in the car crash that claimed the lives of three people in the alleged hijacking of actor Rapulana Seiphemo’s car was wanted by the Mamelodi and Brooklyn police for serious violent crimes and was out on parole.
Tebogo Makunyane, 34, of Mamelodi West, is alleged to have been linked to a dangerous Pretoria gang of criminals.
Makunyane’s alleged accomplice, Nathi Msiza, 26, from Mamelodi East in Pretoria, has appeared in court on charges of hijacking and possession of illegal firearms and ammunition.
Msiza was injured in the crash and admitted to hospital. It is understood Msiza has been linked by the police to a dangerous Pretoria gang of criminals. It is alleged he called some of them on his cellphone from his hospital bed.The gang has been linked to serious crimes, including hijackings.
The Sunday Independent can confirm the investigating officer met senior provincial police officers, including the newly appointed Gauteng Commissioner, Major-General Deliwe Suzan de Lange, in Joburg on Friday, to brief them about the case. Police were also expected to obtain a statement from Seiphemo, who plays Tau Mogale in Generations: The Legacy, on Friday. He was driving at the time of the crash and is expected to be charged with three counts of culpable homicide.
Spokesman Captain Thekiso Mofokeng insisted that the investigating officer has asked that police stop communicating with the media regarding the case until it had been finalised. Seiphemo is recovering from his injuries at home and could not be reached for comment. The two other men who died were Donovan van Zyl and Jacobus Coertze.
According to the Tshwane Metro Police Department, the accident happened a few minutes before 10pm on Sunday, February 14, when two vehicles collided on the N14 near Diepsloot, north of Joburg. Coertze’s cousin, Christelle Tosoni, told Destiny magazine: “So, if it was indeed a hijacking, where are the weapons that should have been found in the vehicle wreck? Have you seen a gun or knife or anything to support the story of a hijacking?
“It’ very odd that the whole accident is claimed to have been the cause of the hijacking. “Maybe if the police are more forthcoming with their investigation, we wouldn’t have to wonder about all of these things.” The family has been complaining that the police have not been providing them with any information regarding the accident.
Mofokeng said that was untrue and the police had been updating the families.
Source : Online
