ELUKWATINI – Two alleged hitmen hired to eliminate the competition in a drug war, were arrested for the gruesome murder of three people last week. Police spokesman, Sgt Peace Mbokane, said they discovered three bodies in Nhlatshe Extention 6, hanging from a roof with barbed wire around their necks, three months ago. Their bodies had sustained multiple burns from an iron and their mouths had been gagged. “This was apparently done to stop their screams from being heard while they were tortured to death,” he said.
Mr Bheki Arnot Makhanya ‘Skroef’ (22) and Mr Bhuti Solomon Nkosi (26) were arrested after a successful manhunt last Wednesday. “While the officials escorted them to the holding cells, the two confessed that they were there when the trio was murdered,” Mbokane said. The motive behind the killing was an alleged elimination of competition between one of the deceased and another man in the surrounding area (who cannot be named pending investigations). He hired them to take out someone who was allegedly more successful at selling drugs than him.
The three bodies were later identified as Mr Jacky Mandla Maziya (38), Mr Elvis Mfanafuthi Mavimbela (25) and Mr Sifiso Mmemo Nkosi (25). The case had sent shock waves through the community.
“While it looked more of a challenge to solve this mysterious death at first, the police put the puzzles together by a piece at a time and we are optimistic that all the perpetrators will soon be incarcerated for their gruesome crime,” Mbokane concluded.
Makhanya and Nkosi briefly appeared before the Elukwatini Magistrate’s Court on Thursday. The Acting Station Commander of Elukwatini SAPS, Lt Col Elphus Mavuso, thanked the officials for their sterling work and for solving the case. “The arrest of these suspects is proof that the arm of the law is long and that one can do the crime but nothing can be done to successfully evade arrest”, he said.
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