Ditebogo Junior Phalane: Arrested suspects ‘not linked’ to toddler’s murder

Two suspects arrested in connection with the murder of five-year-old Ditebogo Junior Phalane will remain in custody until next week.

The suspects appeared in the Atteridgeville Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday on a count of possession of unlicensed ammunition and two counts of possession of prohibited firearm.

The 29-year-old and 30-year-old men were arrested by the Hawks on Monday, bringing the total number of suspects to four.

No murder charge

During the court proceedings, the media was barred from the courtrooms to avoid compromising the ongoing investigations.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson, Lumka Mahanjana, told reporters that an identity parade still needed to be conducted.

“They are appearing here because the alleged firearms and ammunition were discovered here in Atteridgeville area,” she said.

Following the postponement of the case to 30 May, Mahanjana revealed that the suspects arrested were not linked to Phalane’s killing and, therefore, have not been charged with murder, pending investigations.

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“I do not want to divulge the nature of the investigations because we do not want to compromise the investigations of this matter. You might be aware that two more accused appeared in court last week,” she said.

“When the two are linked to the offence, we will then come to the public and inform how the two matters are linked to one another. At this stage, there is no link [as] the two are facing a count of ammunition and two counts of possession of prohibited firearm,” the NPA spokesperson added.

The two other suspects appeared in Soshanguve Magistrate’s Court and the Pretoria North Magistrate’s Court last week.

They have also not been charged with murder as investigations continue. The men will be back in the dock on May 27 and May 28 respectively.

Suspects were out on bail

Earlier, Hawks spokesperson Wendy Nkabi informed the media that two suspects arrested on Monday were South African nationals.

One of the men is believed to have been out on bail.

“The one firearm that led us to finding out that one suspect is currently out on bail and he was arrested at Ga-Rankuwa police station while he was his way to sign [the attendance register as part of his bail conditions],” Nkabi said.

Phalane was laid to rest in Soshanguve on Friday.

The five-year-old boy reportedly ran outside his home to welcome his father, who had returned from running errands around 10:30pm on 10 May.

He was fatally shot as the suspects hijacked his father and was declared dead upon arrival at a nearby hospital.

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