PE murder and hijack suspects nabbed

Four men who were arrested over the weekend for two separate incidents of murder and hijacking are due to appear in the Port Elizabeth Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

The latest incident saw two men who allegedly hijacked a VW Polo on Sunday afternoon arrested within an hour of the incident.

Police spokeswoman Colonel Priscilla Naidu said a 30-year-old man was sitting in his car in Booysens Park Drive, waiting for a friend who was at the ATM, when the hijackers pounced.

“He alleged that he was approached by an unknown man who threatened him with a firearm. He was ordered to get out of the vehicle and his cellphone and cash was taken,” Naidu said.

Police were alerted moments after the hijacking and the vehicle’s registration number was  circulated.

By 3:15pm, another police vehicle had spotted the Polo driving in Stanford Road.

Naidu said several police officials blocked various routes in the immediate vicinity of Stanford Road – forcing the culprits to stop and abandon the car.

“The two suspects, aged 18 and 30, got out and started running in different directions,” she said.

Naidu said two police officials on their way to work chased after and arrested the men.

“One suspect produced a firearm which was later identified as a toy gun,” she said.

In another incident, at 2:45am on Sunday, Luthando Vusani, 25, was fatally stabbed.

Vusani was killed after a man inside a Bethelsdorp tavern called out to his 17-year-old girlfriend while they were dancing.

“The teenager refused [to engage with the man] and went back to her boyfriend. The couple decided to leave and about 500m from the tavern, they noticed they were being followed by the two men who were previously inside the tavern.

"The couple decided to split up and started running. The two suspects caught up to Vusani and when the girlfriend saw them assaulting him, she ran back to her boyfriend,” Naidu said.

“She was stabbed in her arm and leg while her boyfriend sustained one fatal stab wound to his neck. The suspects ran away.”

Naidu said Vusani’s girlfriend recognised one of the attackers who was arrested at his house in Marikana informal settlement at about 5am.

“Further investigations resulted in the arrest of a second suspect, a 19-years-old, also in a shack in Marikana,” she said.

All four men are due to appear in the Port Elizabeth magistrates’ court on Tuesday.