POLICE in Empangeni and Richards Bay are seeking urgent help from the community regarding a number of unsolved murders.
Speculation and rumours surrounding high-priority murder cases in Empangeni and Richards Bay have been rife among the public, who are seeking answers.
Sibongiseni Msimang
Richards Bay resident Sibongiseni Msimang (32) was killed in a hail of bullets while driving down the John Ross Parkway, close to the Arboretum intersection on 17 October, 2016.
According to reports, occupants of an overtaking vehicle discharged 12 shots at the driver from close range, with five of the 9mm bullets striking their target.
Sibongiseni lost control and his vehicle plunged into the bushes on the roadside.
The incident took a more sinister turn when a letter he had written prior to his demise was read aloud at his funeral six days later.
In it, he stated that in the event of his unnatural death, a local medical doctor (who was named) should be investigated.
ALSO READ: WATCH: Man dies in John Ross drive-by shooting
Boet Smuts
Almost five years to the day of the passing of his loving wife Magriet, 81-year-old Boet Smuts was attacked and killed in his David Glenny Crescent home in Empangeni.
His badly decomposed body was only discovered on Christmas Day by a concerned neighbour.
His small bakkie stood in his driveway, jacked up with one wheel removed. The tools were still laid out on the paving next to the car.
A medical examiner found he died of a heart attack, possibly as a result of injuries sustained during the attack.
ALSO READ: Murder most vile
Deena ‘Roland’ Sagathaven
The corpse of Deena ‘Roland’ Sagathaven (43) was discovered in a granny flat in President Swart Street on 27 June this year.
His throat had been slit and he was found lying face up in his lounge on a mattress.
A forensic investigator told the ZO he suspects the body had been laying there for at least a day.
King Cetshwayo police spokesperson, Captain Mbongeni Mdalose, told the ZO at the time that a provincial task team had been called in to investigate the brutal killing.
Mdlalose said police found Sagathaven’s vehicle, a white Toyota Fortuner, abandoned in a remote location in Ngwelezana the previous day.
ALSO READ: Manhunt for ruthless killers
Nothando Malu
The most recent cold case police are needing answers to is that of Nothando Malu (19), who was found naked in a sugarcane plantation on the outskirts of Empangeni earlier this month.
She had one stab wound on her upper torso.
Malu, of Zidedele Village, was a first year student at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) and was on her way home after completing her year-end examination.
ALSO READ: Sugarcane workers make gruesome discovery as they arrive at work
Described by her grief-stricken mother Nokuthula Duma as a ‘bright, ambitious young lady with the world at her feet’, her death sent shock waves through the community when sugarcane workers arriving at work early in the morning found her naked, bruised body lying in the morning sun.
Her mother had spoken to her last on 1 November while she was on her way to Durban rail station to catch a taxi back to Empangeni.
Her body was discovered the next day.
• Anyone with information regarding any of the above cases are asked to contact the head of detectives, Colonel Bonga Mdlalose, on 082 5570365.
Alternatively members of the public can call 10111 and provide information anonymously.
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