ANOTHER DAY IN COURT FOR ‘BIG JOE’
The notorious Joseph Nyalungu appeared in the White River Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday after he and an accomplice were taken into custody in connection with a murder which was committed in Hazyview in 2010. The victim was allegedly beaten to death and thrown into Inyaka Dam.
HAZYVIEW - In yet another pending case against him, the notorious Joseph Nyalungu (54) was dramatically apprehended earlier this week, for a murder he and two accomplices allegedly committed in 2010.
Using severe tactical response,
Big Joe, as he is known, was woken up by an SAPS Nyala ploughing through his gate in Hazyview, before a task team swooped in on him.
Nyalungu, along with Elvis Mulimi (50) who was arrested on the same day, is suspected to have abducted and beaten Willey Shipalana (36) to death 10 years ago before discarding his body in Inyaka Dam. The third suspect is yet to be arrested.
Capt Pottie Potgieter, of the police’s diving unit, still recalls the day the body was recovered near the dam wall, with concrete blocks tied to the feet. Mulimi and Nyalungu’s court appearance in the White River Magistrate’s Court revealed that the latter appeared in court in connection with Shipalana’s murder that year, and never again. From there onward, there is no record of the case.
Mpumalanga Hawks spokesperson, Capt Dineo Sekgotodi said the details as to how and why he was released from custody, are yet to be discovered. She added that Shipalana, an Eskom employee, had been Nyalungu’s neighbour.
The murder allegedly followed a business deal that went south. “There most certainly wasn’t a lack of evidence,” she said.
The duo are expected to be back in court on July 28 for a formal bail application. They will remain in custody. On Monday, Nyalunga is also scheduled to appear in the Mpumalanga High Court following his arrest in 2018.
“The delay in the case comes after the investigation officer in the case, Lt Col Leroy Bruwer, was gunned down earlier this year. The case was handed over to a new investigating officer. We believe the High Court is not ready ready, thus the case is expected to be postponed in absentia,” she said, and added that more charges are likely to be added.