Businessman’s killers believed to be in SA or Mozambique
MBABANE – The killers of businessman Sifiso Simelane are believed to have skipped the country to one of the neighbouring countries, South Africa and Mozambique.
This is according to some of the people who are close to the matter and privy to some of the developments regarding the case. Simelane, of Bethany, Mahlanya under Lobamba Lomdzala Constituency was gruesomely murdered by an unknown gang of thugs on the night of Monday January 22, 2024.
Dumped
His killers slit his throat, and this was after they had robbed him and his family of various items, including a car (BMW sedan, which they later ditched at Luyengo) and money which was in his safe and bank, among other things. After killing him, they dumped his body in a forest around Malkerns.
According to the analysis of some of the people who are close to the matter, the killers of Simelane might have been careless during the incident, as some of the things they did could make it easy for law enforcers to identify them.
This, they said included being seen by a security guard, whom they also kidnapped, but later let go. They also went to the businessman’s home and showed their faces to his wife. He said there was also information which suggested that after brutally killing the businessman, they allegedly went to automated teller machines (ATMs) in Matsapha and withdrew money from the deceased’s bank accounts.
Captured
They said the ATMs’ closed-circuit television camera captured the face(s) of the person(s) who withdrew the money.
Again, they said the killers reportedly also went to one of the eateries in Matsapha on the same night to buy food and a hangout spot (bar). They said these places also have CCTV cameras.
Therefore, they said after realising that they or some of them had exposed themselves and their identities could be easily identifies, they decided to skip the country.
This, they said they believe was true because the incident happened about a fortnight ago, but the police had not made a breakthrough.
“This might have appeared as a simple case to solve, but it might take the police longer than many had expected, to make an arrest,” they said.
Interest
They added that since the incident took place, the police have been talking to some people of interest and they also have phone numbers which called the late businessman on the fateful day.
“It is obvious that the police have tried to trace the killers using the phone numbers, but have failed to locate them so far,” they said.
Meanwhile, Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Senior Superintendent Phindile Vilakati said investigations were still ongoing and no arrest had been made yet. She said police investigations were not discussed in the public domain, when they are still ongoing.