Co-operative Governance minister’s bodyguard shot dead in hijacking attempt

He was shot multiple times while chatting to his girlfriend

A POLICEMAN assigned to protect Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Pravin Gordhan has been shot dead in an apparent failed hijacking in Gauteng.

Constable Sello Machete, 36, was shot multiple times while sitting in his unmarked police vehicle with his girlfriend, Koketso Maleka, 25, outside her home in Stinkwater near Hammanskraal.

Maleka was taken to a nearby hospital with a head injury. “It’s very hard,” said Maleka from her hospital bed. She didn’t want to talk further.

Machete was a member of the police VIP protection unit. Police have opened a case of murder, attempted murder, armed robbery and hijacking, and believe the motive was the theft of a gun.

They are searching for two attackers. Machete’s service pistol was stolen and his Toyota Corolla was taken – the car was recovered a few kilometres away. He was off-duty and wasn’t wearing a uniform. “They were just sitting, chatting,” said Lieutenant Sarah Leshabane. “There were two guys. They passed, then came back and started shooting.”

Machete lived in nearby Sekampaneng and as news of his murder spread yesterday, family and residents gathered at his home to convey their condolences.

His shocked family were still struggling to come to terms with his death and the fact that he had a girlfriend. Machete leaves his wife Gloria and two young sons.

Machete’s younger brother Simon said his murder had left his wife traumatised.

“She is not taking it well at all. She’s finding it difficult to come to terms with it because it was a senseless murder, especially because Sello didn’t have any enemies. Everybody loved him.”

Simon said a relative had called him and said “there’s a Machete shot dead”.

“My cousin called me and when I got there, I found it was my brother,” he said. “I just found him dead on the ground.”

He was the third of six siblings. His family spoke of a man who loved his family, his job and playing soccer.

Machete joined the police in July 2005 and had worked for the minister since June last year.

His younger sister Lebogang said he had joined the police to fight crime. “He hated crime,” she said. Machete “used to come home, sit with us (and) make jokes”.

Lebogang had to identify his body. “I was there. I saw everything that happened to him. I have this pain in my heart,” she said.

Simon called him a good person, who was both a brother and a friend.

“It was painful because he was very close to me. He was a good person. He never had any grudges. He enjoyed his job.”

Gordhan’s spokesperson, Dumisa Jele, said yesterday that the news of Machete’s death had come as a shock, as the constable was a key member of the minister’s protection unit.

“He was a diligent officer who understood his responsibilities as a protector,” Jele said.

“At the height of it all, the news evoked sadness among those who knew him.

“A young man’s life to be snuffed out like that, for no apparent reason, is shocking and sad.”

He had an impeccable level of dedication.”

Meanwhile, police have launched a hunt for the two suspects.

The family said details of his memorial service have yet to be confirmed.