Police offer rewards to solve old crimes

EASTERN Cape police are offering rewards totalling R130 000 to anyone who can assist them in solving three separate cases.

The first is a reward of R50 000 for information that will lead to the arrest and conviction of the killers of Mbuyiseli Mkutukani, the brother of popular singer Zahara.

Mkutukani and his friend Thanduxolo Zumana were murdered near the Buffalo River about 3km from Phumulani Village, where they lived, on April 13 2014.

They were said to have been gunned down by three men who crossed the river from the Mdantsane side.

East London police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Mtati Tana said anyone with information should contact detective Sergeant Pindile Solwandle on 043 707 0600.

All information would be treated as confidential.

Tana said a further reward of R30 000 was on offer for a January 2014 murder in Needs Camp.

Tana said the reward was for information that would lead to the arrest and conviction of the murderer( of David Somyala, 44.

Somyala was attacked with sharp objects while walking home.

“He died on the scene after he sustained multiple stab wounds on the head,” Tana said.

He said anyone with information can contact Constable Matyeni on 043 707 0600.

In the third case, police are offering R50 000 for information that will lead to the arrest and conviction of those involved in the disappearance of a Bhisho teenage girl from her home four years ago.

Sivenathi Ntonga was taken from her home in Balasi location near Bhisho on October 1 2011 by an armed man. The girl was 18 at the time and was taken while sleeping next to her one-year-old son and her mother, Vuyiseka Ntonga.

A door to the family’s two-roomed mud house had opened while they were sleeping and Ntonga had requested her daughter to close it.

When Sivenathi approached the door a man suddenly appeared from the dark and grabbed hold of her and forced her outside. Ntonga heard two gunshots.

She rushed to the police station to report the abduction and in the days following the incident community members and police from the East London search and rescue unit scoured a nearby forest, but to no avail.

Provincial police spokesman Lieutenant Khaya Tonjeni said: “All efforts to trace the victim were made by the detective and members tasked with tracking her whereabouts.”

Anyone with information can contact Major Luyanda Mahobe of the Bhisho SAPS on 082 457 3876 or Constable MelikhayaKula 072 579 7167. —