Suspect in hijacked and burnt car identified but later released

Date: 23 December 2017 By: Tshifhiwa Mukwevho

In an unexpected turn of events, the case against a suspect in a car hi-jacking case, who was pointed out during an identity parade, did not continue in court. The two victims are now left disappointed and unsure of what to expect.

A hawker from Louis Trichardt, Mr John Madavhu, was driving a white Nissan bakkie when he stopped to give a lift to two hitchhikers at the Muromani crossroad in Madombidzha on 25 December 2015. The two men then hijacked the car at gunpoint.

Madavhu ran for his life and the burnt-out car was only found in ploughing fields in Tshikhwani in January 2016. No suspects were arrested at the time.

Months later, the SAPS in Louis Trichardt contacted Madavhu with fresh news of an arrest, and he was asked to identify the suspect(s) during an identity parade.

“I recognised one of the two men among the 10 individuals in the line-up, and the police said that he would go to court on Monday,” he said. The suspect, however, did not appear in court.

The spokesperson for the Makhado police, Const Irene Radzilane, said that the case was neither enrolled nor struck off the roll. “There were some technicalities and the police’s investigations into the matter continue,” she said.

Madavhu said that he was losing hope in the police’s ability to deal with the case. “I identified the suspect and still they released him,” he said. “I swear it is him – I remember him clearly.”

The stolen car apparently belonged to Madavhu’s older brother, Mr Thomas Madavhu. “I am really disappointed, because we hoped to see the police treating this case with the utmost seriousness,” he said.

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Tshifhiwa Mukwevho

Tshifhiwa Given Mukwevho was born in 1984 in Madombidzha village, not far from Louis Trichardt in the Limpopo Province. After submitting articles for roughly a year for Limpopo Mirror's youth supplement, Makoya, he started writing for the main newspaper. He is a prolific writer who published his first book, titled A Traumatic Revenge in 2011. It focusses on life on the street and how to survive amidst poverty. His second book titled The Violent Gestures of Life was published in 2014.

More photos... 

John Madavhu says he is losing hope.

Thomas Madavhu lost his vehicle after it was hijacked and torched.

The hijacked bakkie.