Alert boy identifies man’s killer

Road rage ends in murder in Soweto, perpetrator arrested

AWEEKEND road rage incident ended with the murder of a Soweto man on Saturday night, but the quick thinking of a 10-yearold boy led to the perpetrator’s arrest by the next morning.

Ronnie Olifant was driving along the border of Zola and Jabulani, when a side mirror of his Volkswagen Polo collided with that of another car at about 7pm. The situation turned violent when the other driver dealt a fatal blow to Olifant’s chest after both drivers had exited their vehicles.

Standing outside his house, a young boy watched the situation as it unfolded. At one point, Olifant stumbled and fell into the boy’s yard, before making his way back to his car. The boy would later tell the police what had happened, as well as the licence plate numbers of the attacker’s car and that of his cousin, who was driving behind him.

“He didn’t even take a paper. He memorised it,” said a source close to the investigation. “That’s why I’m saying he’s a brilliant guy (the boy).”

Olifant was taken to hospital, where he died shortly before midnight, said Olifant’s cousin Chris Howard.

The investigating officer, Sergeant Nozipho Morotolo, used the information from the boy to find the female cousin, who helped lure the killer to a place where they spoke about the stabbing, said Howard, who was informed about the investigation. The police subsequently took the driver into custody.

It was understood the attacker, due to appear in the Protea Magistrate’s Court today, had confessed to the murder, the source said.

After being taken into custody, he was taken to retrieve the knife used as the murder weapon.

Howard praised the police for handling the case so efficiently, but said the loss would be difficult for the family. “It leaves us with broken hearts,” he said.

“He was almost a Mandela person, he was a people’s person. In our family, we basically lost a legend.”

Initially, Howard said, it was believed that Olifant would survive, despite losing a large amount of blood. However, that was not to be when he received the 2.40am call about his cousin’s death.

Olifant was known to avoid fights and arguments, usually opting to settle things peacefully, which was why the news took him by surprise.

Howard said he considered Olifant a “big brother”, who was always willing to help him out, even in tough times.

The last time he spoke to his cousin was two weeks ago, when he told Olifant about his upcoming marriage at the end of October.

“The last memory I had with him was when I told him I was getting married,” he said. “He told me, ‘Congratulations.’ He never thought I was going to get married before him… That is one thing I’m going to miss – him not being there.”