Number of arrests in Thoriso Themane murder case rises to nine

Three more suspects have been arrested and will be facing charges when they reappear in court next week.

The case against the first six suspects who were arrested for the murder of Thoriso Themane was postponed on Thursday for seven days.

The delay was caused by a sixth teenager being arrested overnight on Wednesday.

A police spokesperson revealed at the time that more people were due to be arrested amid the news that a sixth teenager was apprehended in connection with Themane’s murder and was among those appearing in the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.

The murder of the 28-year-old victim, allegedly by pupils of Capricorn High School in Limpopo, has shocked the country as videos of the murder circulated on social media, and one of the suspects boasted that his father, a policeman, would protect him.

Ngoepe confirmed on Tuesday that the Polokwane police were investigating a case of murder in Flora Park, a leafy suburb near the central business district of Polokwane, over the weekend.

According to police information, Themane had been arguing with a group of pupils who were at the school over the weekend.

The pupils then allegedly brutally assaulted him, throwing stones and dragging him on to a public road, while several recorded videos and cracked jokes during the assault. The bruised and bloody man was discovered by motorists who called the police.

One Flora Park resident, who said her child was a pupil at the school, said the parents were worried that only a few of the pupils, who did not have ties with the powers that be at the local police station, were called in for questioning.

This was after it emerged that the father of one suspected killer in the group was a high-ranking police officer.

“We want all children identified to have taken part in the assault and the killing of the man to be named and shamed. Otherwise justice will not be served in this matter, because only the haves are treated with velvet gloves and the poor and the lesser known differently,” said the woman, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

Ngoepe said five pupils between the ages of 15 and 17 years were initially arrested and further arrests would be determined by the outcome of investigations.

Political parties gathered outside the Polokwane Magistrate’s Court on Thursday where the six teenagers appeared.

The victims’s father, Mahlapahlapana, has said he now regrets bringing his son into what he has described as a vicious world.

#DearBlackParents please harden the rod at home, teach us about being children to our elders and how our actions will always have consequences. Also stop taking our sides when we have done wrong. It's ok to punish us.#Thoriso #ThorisoThemane #RIPThoriso#JusticeForThoriso pic.twitter.com/lSyirjpZsj

— Brandon Khambule (@brandonkhambule) February 28, 2019

He said it was painful that he thought his son would bury him, but now he is the one who has to bury his son.

“We are pleased that you knew the Lord in your teenage years, although you had your own weaknesses. But the grace of God has undertaken for you … I will find you there,” he said, speaking to news channel eNCA.

“I’m sorry I brought you into a vicious world like this and I’m sorry about what happened to you.”

He, however, called for forgiveness for the petpetrators.

Meanwhile, political parties and other community groups gathered outside the Polokwane court demanding action for Themane’s “senseless” death.

The DA has called for harsh punishment for the perpetrators, as a lesson to others.

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