LIMPOPO – A 43-year-old man is expected to appear before the Vuwani Magistrate’s Court today (February 21) on charges of murder, house robbery, attempted murder and kidnapping after he surrendered himself to the police.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo said the man was arrested in the early hours of Monday morning (February 20) in Levubu and is responsible for the murder of 78-year-old Marandela Mabasa and attempted murder of her daughter (32).
“On January 21, the deceased, her daughter and three grandchildren were attacked by the young woman’s ex-boyfriend after he forcibly entered their house. The suspect hacked both mother and daughter with a panga and thereafter forced his five-year-old child into his ex-girlfriend’s vehicle and drove away,’ his statement read.
The victim’s vehicle was later found abandoned in Makhado and soon after that the child was also safely located at his father’s homestead in Mashamba village.
Both victims were taken to hospital after they sustained severe injuries but Mabasa later succumbed to her injuries in hospital.
Read more: Lim police seek whereabouts of man linked to family attack
“The police opened two counts of attempted murder, kidnapping and theft of a motor vehicle and a manhunt was launched. The one attempted murder case was changed into murder after the victim died,” he said.
The provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe has welcomed the arrest.