The murder trial of slain victims Mr Rofhiwa Tshifhango and Mr Mandla Nkosi resumed on Monday, 4 June at the Circuit of the Pretoria High Court sitting in Breyten.
Two men and a woman, Ayanda Mahlobo, Sithembiso Ndaba and Busisiwe Nkosi, from Ermelo are facing a string of charges, which include premeditated murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, kidnapping and assault that they allegedly committed on 27 November 2016.
According to information at police’s disposal, Mahlobo and Ndaba, who had been allegedly hired by the third suspect, Nkosi, are reported to have attacked and eventually killed a man, while a second one was left for dead.
The victims, Rofhiwa Tshifhango and Mandla Nkosi, who were both public servants at the local Department of Public Works, were reportedly relaxing in a house when they were attacked by the two men who brutally assaulted them before taking them to a nearby bush along the N11 between Hendrina and Ermelo, using the victims’ vehicles, an Audi and a Toyota Corolla.
Tshifhango was hanged, while Nkosi who had been left in the boot of the vehicle, was subsequently shot at in the car boot before being left for dead.
He was found in the morning by a local farmer who helped him and called the police.
Police investigations unravelled that Mahlobo and Ndaba had been allegedly hired by Nkosi who was staying with Tshifhango.
It is suspected that Tshifhango was killed for purposes of life insurance as well as pension pay-outs.
The trio was arrested on 29 December 2016 and had been kept in custody with bail being denied.
The matter is expected to be heard until 15 June in the Breyten Magistrate’s Court.
