A 21-year-old man is expected to appear in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on Monday, after he was found in possession of a Range Rover sport utility vehicle, with the body of the murdered owner inside the car.
On Saturday, Gauteng provincial police spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Mavela Masondo said police arrested the 21-year-old man after the body of a woman, and some items suspected to be stolen, were found inside her stolen Range Rover.
“Preliminary investigation suggests that the victim was killed during a house robbery in Standerton, Mpumalanga province, on Friday evening. The suspect/s allegedly ransacked the house before killing the victim and put her in her Range Rover and drove off with it,” said Masondo.
According to police, an official from a vehicle tracking company was tracing the woman’s luxurious vehicle, when he found it at a petrol station in Moreleta Park, in Pretoria, in the early hours of Saturday.
“While searching the car and the suspect who was driving the car, a body of a female was discovered in the car and suspected stolen items that include laptops, cellphones, jewellery and deceased's bank cards were also recovered,” said Masondo.
Two firearms and one replica firearm were also found inside the car.
“Police were called to the scene and arrested the suspect. He was charged with murder, kidnapping, possession of unlicensed firearms, possession of stolen motor vehicle, and possession of suspected stolen property,” said Masondo.
Earlier this year, IOL reported that then police minister Bheki Cele expressed concern about the spike in the murder rate in the country, with 7,710 people murdered between October and December last year.
Cele said this was an increase of 2.1% compared to the same period last year.
He said authorities were concerned about the rise in the murder rate in the country. There were 7,710 people killed in the third quarter of last year, which is 155 more people compared to the same period the previous year.
IOL