Suspected Olorato Mongale's killer still on the run after three months

Grieving mother critical of police investigation

- By Sihle Mavuso and Bongani Mdakane

Three months after the gruesome murder of Olorato Mongale, one of the suspects in the killing that shocked the country is still on the run.

The police are yet to catch Bongani Mthimkhulu, the alleged accomplice of Philangezwi Makhanya, who was killed in a June shootout with police in Amanzimtoti in Durban.

Makhanya allegedly fled to KwaMashu, a township north of Durban, immediately after learning that the police were hot on his heels in relation to the murder. He later fled to a hideout on the South Coast, where he was shot dead. Police are yet to trace Mthimkhulu.

Just like his now-late alleged conspirator, Mthimkhulu is from KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), and both moved to Gauteng, from where they reportedly lured women with fake dates to rob and kill them.

KZN police spokesperson Col Robert Nentshiunda seemingly washed the provincial police's hands of the failure to apprehend Mthimkhulu. "This is a Gauteng matter; we were assisting because it happened that the suspect ran to KwaZulu-Natal. But this is a Gauteng matter where it happened," he told Sunday World