The Organised Crime Unit of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), the Hawks, in Mpumalanga arrested two suspected hitmen, Mashudu Malema, 27 and Selby Mboshane, 32 for the murder of Simon Malope, 46. The suspects were arrested in Tembisa and Katlehong in Gauteng over the past weekend.
The suspects appeared in the Acornhoek Magistrates’ Court today. Their case was postponed to 16 April 2014, and they remain in custody. Their accomplices were arrested earlier this month.
The two accused who had been arrested earlier this month, are Casmina Chiloane, 40, the wife of the deceased and Advice Mapaila, 26, a local resident. The duo was arrested on 8 and 9 March 2014 in Acornhoek, Bushbuckridge. They also appeared in the Acornhoek Magistrates’ Court on 10 March 2014. They were remanded in custody until 16 April 2014 for a formal bail application.
Malope was fatally shot on 18 January 2014 on the doorstep of his Green Valley home in Acornhoek, minutes after he had returned from a local tavern. The hit had allegedly been orchestrated by Malope’s wife.
The murder weapon has been found in the suspects’ possession.
“We are convinced that we arrested the real culprits behind Malope’s murder. A trail of events leading to this incident will be revealed in court,” said Mpumalanga’s Head of the Hawks, Major General Simon Mapyane.