South African national George Champion Sithole, accused of murdering a six-year-old girl in the United Kingdom, has been successfully extradited, the South African Police Service said on Wednesday.
Spokesperson Brigadier Sally de Beer said Sithole was handed over to three British police officers and flown out of the country on Tuesday night at 9.35pm under the extradition order.
He would stand trial in the UK on charges of arson and murder.
On October 26 2004 someone poured petrol on a house in Crawley, West Sussex, and set fire to it. The adults escaped unharmed, but six-year-old Dumoluhle Sibanda died in the fire.
Sithole arrived in South Africa three days later. South African police tracked him down and arrested him in Jeppe, Johannesburg, in March 2010. On February 4 2011, Sithole was found to be “extraditable”.
“This successful extradition yet again emphasises the cooperative relationship between South Africa and other countries and the importance of mutual legal assistance in ensuring that suspects involved in serious and violent crimes are brought to justice,” De Beer said. — Sapa