MISSING MBONDZELA GUARD: SUSPECTS LEAD POLICE TO CLOTHES

MBONDZELA – The suspects who were taken in for questioning led the police to a place where clothes believed to have been worn by the missing Mbondzela security guard were found.

This happened on the third day of the search for the missing security guard, Vukani Mkhwanazi. Police officers took the search for Mkhwanazi to about six kilometres from where they started on the first day. The law enforcers were in the company of two suspects, who are assisting them with information to find the missing security guard. Mkhwanazi went missing while on duty at Mbondzela in the Shiselweni Region on May 18, 2024, at around 4pm.

Eyewitness

On the day that Mkhwanazi was last seen, according to an eyewitness, he had set out to look for livestock along the boundaries of the farm and came across a group of unknown people. The unknown people are suspected to be members of political parties, as they were allegedly seen wearing the same clothes around the area previously. It was said that the unknown people jumped over a fence to the road, where they met Mkhwanazi. He is said to have panicked and made a quick call to one of his colleagues, whom he told about the people he had spotted. Yesterday, during what was supposed to be a pointing out, the two suspects took the police deep into the forests, about a three-hour walk from where Mkhwanazi spotted the unknown people.

Police went to the specific area around 8am without the media and Mkhwanazi’s family. After about three hours, the family and the media were taken to the scene. Upon arrival, the police briefed them on how they got to that spot. Gege Station Commander Superintendent Pholani Nxumalo shared with the family that one of the suspects was from the Mbondzela community, while another was apprehended around Matsapha. They shared that the two led them to the place where they had assembled, which was where the suspects claimed to have last seen the missing Mkhwanazi. The suspects stated that they walked with Mkhwanazi for about six kilometres and stopped where the clothes were found. They alleged that they were four in number when they abducted Mkhwanazi and walked with him until they reached the area where the clothes were found.

The duo alleged that the other two, who are at large, told them to wait there as they were not supposed to see anything beyond that.  It is alleged that these two people who are at large, went away and returned about 30 minutes later and they all went back. At the scene, the clothes that Mkhwanazi was last seen wearing were discovered in water. These were a navy blue pair of jeans, grey jacket, an orange and brown buffer as well as brown half boots. According to the police, Mkhwanazi went missing with a firearm; a panzer pump action that was loaded with 10 live rounds of ammunition; however, it was not found. Also found at the scene was a black cap that allegedly belonged to one of the four people who abducted Mkhwanazi.
The family, at first, kept their distance, as they allowed the police to conduct the search. After some time, some of the family members climbed the mountain to look around.

More family members, including the missing guard’s father, joined after two K9 sniffer dogs kept making rounds in one area. A drone was also used to search for the missing person, but could not be of much assistance as the scene where the clothes were found was bushy and it could not move around.  The police were of the view that the missing man wouldn’t be found very far from where the clothes, were discovered, but it was not the case. The police then considered searching for Mkhwanazi in the bushes and with the help of a family member and Mbondzela guards as well as K9 Security Company. There were three sniffer dogs from different companies that assisted in the search.  The dogs were followed by police officers who were also searching around.

The search was eventually stopped around 5pm. The Gege station commander shared that the police would be on the lookout on the mountains to make sure that there were no movements during the search. He stated that they were working with police officers from different departments in the region to locate the missing Mkhwanazi. During the search yesterday, the two suspects were at the scene and were heavily guarded by the police.

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