BRITS POS – BRITS - The North West Acting Provincial Police Commissioner, Major General Patrick Asaneng has commended the Brits Detectives, supported by Hartbeespoortdam Crime Prevention for the arrest of three men who will be charged with murder that was allegedly committed in 2023, after the mutilated, partly burnt and badly decomposed corpse of the then 20-year-old young woman, Gontse Makhubela who had been reported missing by her family, was recovered at a refuse dumping site in Elandskraal, Brits on Thursday, 23 November 2023.
Due to a meticulous and unrelenting investigation by the District Serious and Violent Crimes Team and acting on credible information and after having followed up on all the leads, two suspects were arrested on Wednesday, 6 August. The two suspects, aged 29 and 38, are positively linked to the barbaric and wicked murder after the police recovered the deceased’s cellular phone. Further investigation led the police to Winterveldt, Gauteng Province, where the third suspect was arrested after being found in possession of deceased’s organs.
Investigation has since revealed that the victim was tricked and lured to death by the 29-year-old suspect, who was tasked by the second suspect to find a young woman fitting a particular profile to be murdered in order that the second suspect could have her organs for muthi. Investigation has also revealed that the 38-year-old suspect is an illegal Mozambican witchdoctor who claims to be a traditional healer and, on his orders, the deceased was kidnapped before she was brutally murdered, dismembered and burnt.
In addition to the murder, the first two suspects will be charged with kidnapping, violation and or defiling a corpse as well as contravention of Section 49(1) of the Immigration Act against the Mozambican upon appearance before the Brits Magistrates’ Court. The third suspect who is also a traditional healer from Mozambique, is expected to appear in the GaRankuwa Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 11 August 2025.
Investigations into the matter continue and there are possibilities of more arrests.
