THE three suspects arrested for the murder of a Mtuba man last month appeared at the Magistrate’s Court for a formal bail application.
Thamsanga Dlamini, Lelethukuthul Mhlungu and Celimpilo Cele were remanded into custody after their initial appearance.
The trio was arrested following the disappearance – which became murder when the body was found – of a Mtubatuba man whose family reported him missing on 2 April.
The victim was reportedly on his way to Mtubatuba from Jozini when he picked up three hitchhikers in his Toyota Tazz.
They and a fourth accomplice who was waiting at the N2 roadside when the car stopped, bound the victim’s hands with shoelaces and bundled him into the boot of his car – this after the fourth man had shot him.
They dumped him in the bushes near the railway line and, seeing he was not yet dead, the suspects delivered the fatal shot in the back of his head. His body was found five days later by passers-by but his death was linked to the missing Tazz two weeks later when the vehicle was recovered in Dukuduku.
Dlamini, Mhlungu and Cele were charged with murder and have been in custody at Mtubatuba police cells.
Mtubatuba SAPS Communications Officer, Captain Justice Hlabisa, has urged motorists not to pick up hitchhikers, especially when travelling alone.
