AN escaped detainee was rearrested following the tireless efforts of the Bellair SAPS. In the early hours of Saturday, 15 August, the task team’s manhunt efforts, which saw long hours in search of the three escapees, yielded positive results when Vusi Gumede was rearrested at his mother’s house in KwaMakutha. He is one of three detainees who was discovered missing from the holding cells at Bellair Police Station during an early routine check on Sunday, 26 July. Gumede was initially detained by Chatsworth detectives for murder and was placed in custody at Bellair SAPS for safekeeping together with two other detainees.
While in custody, Gumede escaped together with Bheki Nkosi, who was arrested for illegal possession of a firearm, and Siyabonga Dlamini was found in possession of stolen property. Lieutenant Colonel Moonsamy Pillay said the recapture was not an easy task as they had no means of identifying the detainees.
“Finding Vusi Gumede was difficult because we had no way of identifying him as no pictures or fingerprints had been taken at the time of his capture. The only people that could identify him were the officers that booked him in,” he said. Pillay said that he is confident that there will be no repetition of this incident as Gumede will be detained at Westville Prison after his court appearance on Monday, 17 August.
The three detainees allegedly cut off a steel bar from the inner cell gate, bent the outer cell gate, squeezed themselves out of it and then made a hole on the wall, managing to free themselves by pushing out the metal screen. The two other escapees are still at large, and you can help the police with their recapture by contacting 031 451 2826 or any nearest police station, or Crime Stop on 0860 010 111.
