Main suspect in Olorato Mongale's murder dies in shootout with cops
The main suspect in the murder of Wits postgraduate student Olorato Mongale has been fatally shot by police in KwaZulu-Natal.
Without naming him, national police spokesperson Brig Athlenda Mathe said he was found by police hiding out in a residential complex in Amanzimtoti.
"When police announced their arrival, he shot at them. Police returned fire and he was fatally wounded," she said at 4am on Friday, adding provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi is at the scene.
Mkhwanazi told eNCA the suspect had gone to the apartment to rent a car from someone living there on Thursday morning. The rental person declined to do so due to his high profile after wanted notices were issued by police. He stayed there for the day. According to the resident, he confessed to the murder and displayed signs of being suicidal.
Mongale was last seen leaving her apartment in northern Johannesburg for a date with a man who called himself John on Sunday afternoon. Her body was discovered in Lombardy near Alexandra.
The white VW Polo used to pick up Mongale was found at a panel-beating workshop in Phoenix in KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday.
The owner of the vehicle, an elderly man, was arrested and police identified Philangenkosi Makhanya and Fezile Ngubane as people of interest in the murder. On Thursday morning, police identified a third man, Bongani Mthimkhulu, who is a friend of Makhanya, as an additional suspect.
Mathe disclosed later on Thursday that Makhanya and Mthimkhulu were out on bail after their arrest in Brakpan last month for kidnapping and robbing a woman. After a court appearance, they were released from custody on April 26.
The parents of one of the three suspects are in custody.
Police said: "The father is the owner of the VW polo while the mother is believed to have tipped off the son that police were at the parents' house looking for him. The action by the mother enabled the son to evade arrest on Wednesday night. When police arrived in Inanda where he stays, he had left."
Mathe urged anyone who spots the other two suspects to immediately contact Brig Edwin Nama on 082-778-9035.
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