Breakthrough in hostel murder

TWO men have been arrested in connection with the murder of a tuckshop owner at the Glebelands Hostel in uMlazi.

The men, aged 28 and 31, were arrested for the murder of S’bongile Mtshali, 52, on July 26. Police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Thulani Zwane said Mtshali was in her room, from where she operated a tuckshop, when two men pretending to be customers shot her in the head and chest.

They will appear in the uMlazi Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

In another possible breakthrough, police arrested a 36-year-old man for being in possession of an unlicensed firearm when they searched a minibus taxi in the hostel on Wednesday.

Zwane said all the arrested suspects would be profiled to establish if they were linked to other crimes committed at Glebelands hostel.

Ninety-three people have been killed in the hostel since March 2014. A month ago, the Moerane Commission was set up to investigate political killings in KwaZulu-Natal, which included murders at the hostel.

The acting provincial commissioner, Major-General Bheki Langa, appealed to Glebelands residents to work with the police by reporting any criminal activities.

Community activist Vanessa Burger welcomed the arrests, saying she would like to see them lead to convictions. She said nobody had been convicted for hostel murders in nearly four years.