No murder charges for Ditebogo Phalane (5) suspects - NPA

The two suspects appeared in the Atteridgeville Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.

This brings the total number of suspects that police arrested, reportedly for the Soshanguve hijacking and murder, to four.

Ditebogo Junior Phalane (5) was killed when his father was hijacked outside his family’s Soshanguve home two weeks ago.

Last week, Gauteng police commissioner Tommy Mthombeni announced the arrest of two suspects linked to Phalane’s murder.

On Tuesday, a Hawks statement confirmed another two suspects' arrest.

While the police maintain the four people that they have in custody are linked to the crime, the National Prosecuting Authority’s Lumka Mahanjana clarified on Wednesday that none of the suspects are facing murder charges.

“In the police statement, there was a line where they said they were taking the firearms for ballistics [testing], to understand whether the firearm was used for the killing of the five-year-old. That investigation is yet to take place. So, at this point, they are not linked to the murder of the five-year-old. But investigations are ongoing,” explained Mahanjana.

She says authorities have not ruled out the possibility of more charges, including hijacking.

“If investigations lead us to link them to all those other offenses, then they will be linked and all those charges will be added.”

‘WE CAN’T LET THIS ONE GO’

Reacting to the NPA’s statement about the murder charges, the Economic Freedom Fighter’s Obakeng Ramabodu warned that his party will not let the case slip through the cracks.

“We are yet to know who killed DJ Sumbody, Ma-R5, or who killed Peter Mashata, the list is long. We don’t have answers until today. We can’t let this one of the five-year-old go.

“Maybe this case of the five-year-old sends a message to us as the public to say how can we let cases of murder here in Tshwane to just disappear. This one won’t disappear.”

At the same time, the South African National Civic Organisation’s Nki Manamela lauded the police for the arrests but called for convictions to follow.

“We appreciate the work they are doing, and we expect that they will arrest more people so that these killings in Tshwane can come to an end.”

Police Minister Bheki Cele was in Soshanguve on Wednesday to receive a memorandum of demands from the leaders of the march against crime that the African National Congress Youth League organised.

Cele confirmed that two of the four suspects were out on bail for other serious crimes.

The minister had previously lamented that police officers arrest criminals, only for the courts to release them on bail.

“They are on bail for serious cases [like] house robbery, hijack, attempted murder, and both are out on bail. So, that’s one problem we face as the police," Cele said.

One of the two suspects who were arrested on 20 May revealed at his first court appearance last week that he has a pending case at Ga-Rankuwa Magistrates’ Court where he is facing charges of possession of a firearm, possession of ammunition, attempted murder, and robbery with aggravating circumstances. 

It also emerged on Wednesday that one of the suspects in the Atteridgeville case was out on bail for similar offenses.

In South Africa, bail is not used to punish an accused person before he/she is tried or convicted. Bail is used to secure the accused’s appearance before the court and impose conditions to protect the integrity of the investigative and judicial process.

Meanwhile, on social media, the Phalane family spokesperson Gift Makoti congratulated the police on a job well done.

The Atteridgeville case returns to court on 30th May, while the other two accused in the Soshanguve and Pretoria North Magistrate Courts will be heard on the 27th and 28th of May respectively.

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