Jacques Freitag, left, after winning the gold medal in the men’s high jump final at the 9th IAAF World Athletics Championship in 2003 in Paris; and Rudie Lubbe. Pictures: Gallo Images/ Tertius Pickard and Facebook
In a dramatic development in the shock murder case of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag, police have arrested disgraced former lawyer Rudolph “Rudie” Lubbe and Shantellè Oosthuizen between Nelspruit (now Mbombela) and Sabie on Tuesday, 16 July.
Lubbe and his long-time lover have been on the run from the law for more than a week, with the police in Hercules, Pretoria, obtaining warrants of arrest for the couple on charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Oosthuizen and Lubbe, who are both from Pretoria, dropped off the radar after they were questioned in connection with the brutal murder of Freitag.
Well-known private investigator Mike Bolhuis, whose Specialized Security Services (SSS) task team have been working closely with the police to track down the fugitive couple, confirmed Lubbe and Oosthuizen’s arrest to The Citizen.
“They did not hand themselves over to the police, but was arrested at about 10am,” Bolhuis revealed.
“The investigative officer, Captain Martin Smith, drove up himself from Pretoria to go and fetch Lubbe and Oosthuizen from Sabie Police Station
“The two of them will be transported to the Hercules Police Station where the murder case of Freitag is under investigation,” he added.
Gauteng police spokesperson Brigadier Brenda Muridili said Oosthuizen and Lubbe were arrested at “their hideout in one of the guesthouses” in the Sabie area.
“They will appear before the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court soon,” she added.
Lubbe’s lawyer, Steve Hefferman, told The Citizen that he was contacted by the former attorney’s son, Lenus Lubbe, this morning.
According to Hefferman, Lubbe and Oosthuizen are apparently held at the Sabie Police Station.
“We do not know what the official charges are yet, but we will be applying for bail,” he said.
In 2006, Lubbe was struck off the roll of attorneys after complaints from the Law Society of the Northern provinces that he had been unprofessional and had stolen money from his trust account.
He also made headlines back in August 2004 after being arrested for allegedly threatening to kill his then wife, Magdaline.
Freitag was last seen alive when he left a guesthouse in Booysens, Pretoria West, on foot on 18 June.
He had been dropped there the previous day by Lubbe who fetched him from the Bronkhorstspruit home of his mother, Hendrina Pieters, at 1am in the morning to allegedly pay him for “a job”.
Freitag’s decomposing body was found on 1 July with three gunshot wounds and a broken arm in a field near the Zandfontein Cemetery, which is situated about 4km from the guesthouse.
The 2.04m-tall former top athlete was also stabbed several times.
The “job” for which Lubbe is said to have owed the former star athlete money, appears to have been a botched “hit” on Oosthuizen’s fiancé, the 31-year-old Louis Harmse.
Oosthuizen and Lubbe dated for 16 years before she met Harmse in March 2023 at De La Rey’s, Lenus’ pub and grill in Bela-Bela.
Despite getting engaged to Harmse after a whirlwind romance, Oosthuizen stayed in close contact with Lubbe.
Harmse told Rapport that he was allegedly attacked by Freitag with a brick on 13 June.
The attack on Harmse took place five days before the 42-year-old high jump star was last seen alive leaving the guesthouse.
Freitag was reportedly a close friend of Lubbe and Oosthuizen, with Harmse also being one of his acquaintances.
Over the weekend, Captain Smith confirmed that Harmse has laid charges of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder against Oosthuizen and Lubbe.
NOW READ: The lawyer, the lover and the high jumper: Insiders lift lid on Freitag murder saga
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