4 in court for official's kidnapping
2013-01-16 21:31
Johannesburg - Three teenagers and a man accused of
kidnapping a senior government official appeared in the Mankweng Magistrate's
Court on Wednesday, Limpopo police said.
Their case was postponed to 31 January, police
spokesperson Hangwani Mulaudzi said.
The four are accused of kidnapping Ephraim Mashiane, 54,
a director in the province's economic development, environment and tourism
department.
Mashiane went missing on 1 September last year. His
burnt-out car was later found in Ga-Mothapo, about 35km east of Polokwane.
His body was found floating in Schoonoord Dam in
Sekhukhune, about 150km from the initial crime scene, a month after his
disappearance.
He been stabbed several times. It was suspected that he
was hijacked before he was killed.
The four were arrested on 1 January. Two of them are
19-years-old, one is 16 and the other 20. They have been charged with
kidnapping, hijacking, and murder.
Mulaudzi said because the kidnapping and the murder took
place in two different districts they would appear in two separate courts.
The cases could be joined later.
They would appear in the Sekhukhune Magistrate's Court on
22 January on the murder charge.
They face the kidnapping charge in the Mankweng
Magistrate's Court.
- SAPA
