Two relatives are among the six suspects arrested in connection with the murder of Avhatakali Netshisaulu, son of City Press editor Mathatha Tsedu, reported the newspaper at the weekend.
City Press said a suspect arrested on Friday was a relative and was allegedly the ”mastermind, financier and recruiter of Netshisaulu’s killers”.
A second relative was reportedly arrested after Netshisaulu’s memorial service two weeks ago.
A source told the newspaper that the six included the two relatives and four hired assassins and that the actual killers, believed to have fled to Zimbabwe, are still being sought.
On Saturday, Gauteng police confirmed to domestic press agency Sapa that six suspects had been arrested.
”I can confirm that five suspects were arrested earlier this month,” said Director Govindsamy Mariemuthoo.
”Last night we took another suspect, a female, into custody and she will appear in court on Tuesday.”
The woman is due in court in Krugersdorp.
The first suspect was arrested on December 10, three days after Netshisaulu’s murder and the second on December 12.
By December 17, another three suspects had been arrested. They are all due in the Krugersdorp magistrate’s court again on January 18. All are in custody.
Mariemuthoo said the arrests had not been announced earlier as police had been busy with investigations. He denied that police had previously said no arrests had been made in the case.
Netshisaulu was found burnt beyond recognition in the boot of his Volkswagen Golf in a field at Nooitgedacht near Muldersdrift on December 7.
The chartered accountant left Northriding for a meeting in Honeydew at 8pm. On the way there he phoned his wife, Mulalo, to tell her he thought he was being hijacked.
His wife called the police but to no avail. She later searched the area with a family member.
Police and emergency workers later found a car on fire, extinguished the blaze and discovered a body in the boot. Mulalo identified the car as her husband’s when she arrived on the scene. – Sapa