JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – A Zimbabwean man named online as the shooter in the deaths of two employees of bread company Sasko is NOT a suspect in the murders, South African police have clarified.
An image of the man circulated on social media and was widely shared, accompanied by a false claim that he was one of the shooters. The man in the picture was named as Martin Mugayi, although his real identity has not been independently verified.
Western Cape police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Malcolm Pojie on Thursday told journalists that no arrests have been made and the investigation into the May 16 killings continues.
“Be advised that a 28-year-old Zimbabwean national was arrested in Beaufort-West yesterday, 22 May 2024, as an undocumented person. However, he is not a suspect in the Delft double murder of a week ago,” said Pojie.
The man is expected to appear in the Beaufort-West Magistrates’ Court soon.
Chilling dashcam video showed three Sasko employees sitting in a bread delivery truck in Delft, a township on the outskirts of Cape Town, before they were attacked by three men. A gunman is seen shooting at the trio, who were subsequently robbed.
Two of the Sasko employees died at the scene but one who was sat in the middle survived with gunshot wounds.
Several posts on social media said the police received a tip-off from a community member alerting them about the whereabouts of one of the wanted suspects, misidentified as the Zimbabwean.
The source of the claim was a screenshot from a WhatsApp group where a case number and information on the alleged suspect was shared.
“At the time he was travelling to Zimbabwe. The name of the bus and its current location was provided by the informer together with the photo of the suspect,” the WhatsApp message, later posted on X and Facebook, stated.
The claim that the killer was an illegal Zimbabwean immigrant incited xenophobic posts on social media and was widely shared by far-right anti-immigrant activists.
