JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – South African authorities have warned that a suspect in the killing of a female university student may be in Zimbabwe.
Bongani Mthimkhulu from Zola in Soweto is one of two men police say are responsible for the death of Olorato Mongale, who told friends she was going on a date before she was found murdered.
The main suspect Philangenkosi Makhanya was shot dead by police after being cornered at a residential complex in Amanzimtoti, a coastal town south of Durban on May 29.
Before his death, Makhanya confessed to the murder of the Wits University student, according to police citing an account by a man who was harbouring the fugitive.
“This guy here (resident at Amanzimtoti flats where Makhanya was found hiding) tells us that when he interviewed the deceased, he told him that one of the suspects said he was going to Zimbabwe. We don’t know about that, we’re still trying to locate him,” KwaZulu Natal police commissioner General Nhlanhla Mkhwananzi said.
Deputy police minister Polly Boshielo said Mthimkhulu would be found “dead or alive.”
“We will also not rest until we find Mthimkhulu. We are still searching for him. He and Philangenkosi Makhanya were working together and they were a syndicate that was targeting women in various malls across the country. Our investigation is now standing at 22 cases that they are linked to these two criminals. Women from across the country have positively identified them as the pair that kidnapped and robbed them,” Boshielo said at Olorato’s funeral service on Sunday.
South African police are believed to have already sent a request for assistance to their Zimbabwean counterparts to be on the lookout for Mthimkhulu.
The two countries have an extradition agreement.
