By KEDIBONE MOLAETSI
30 April 2025- The National Police Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, has confirmed that the bodies found at the Hennops river in Centurion, near the N1 highway in Pretoria, are those of the police constables who went missing last week while enroute to Limpopo. Addressing the media along the N1 in Pretoria on Tuesday, Masemola said the bodies of the three missing constables, Keamogetswe Buys, Boipelo Senoge and Cebekhulu Linda, have been found.
“It is with deep sorrow that I confirm that our three members have been found, together with two other bodies, one being an admin clerk that is attached to our Lyttelton Police Station.
“This as police had earlier reported that the constables went missing on 23 April 2025. The police searched everywhere for our three missing police officers and the high-level team that had been tasked with investigating their disappearance spent sleepless nights combing the length and breadth of Gauteng, Free State and Limpopo,” he said.
Masemola further said following all possible leads and after studying all evidence that they had gathered, their investigation led them to between the Grasmere Toll Plaza on the N1, past the Buccleuch interchange, onto John Voster drive.
“We had hoped to find our three police officers safe, unharmed and alive, but this is not the case. The two women constables, Buys (30) and Senoge (20) and a male constable Linda (24), were travelling in a white VW Polo sedan from Bloemfontein to their area of deployment in Limpopo when they went missing.
“At the time of their disappearance, the officers were off duty. In a statement on Saturday, the police appealed to members of the public for assistance in finding the missing constables and on Sunday,” said Masemola.
He said the Deputy National Commissioner for Crime Detection, Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya and him, met with the team involved in investigating the officers’ disappearance. Masemola said the police delegation also met the officers’ families at the weekend.
“On Monday, the investigation and search led police to the Hennops River in Centurion. With the assistance of the South African Police Service (SAPS) drone pilots, cybercrime unit, HAWKS, Crime and counter-intelligence unit, SAPS and Gauteng Traffic Airwing, as well as the Bidvest Protea Coin Airwing, the police first found pieces of vehicle parts believed to be of a VW polo along the N1.
“The police were then led to the banks of the river, where they found a Renault Kangoo panel van. Our SAPS and Tshwane divers immediately commenced with the search, where we discovered two bodies, one of the driver of the Renault panel van who it just came to light that he is one of our employees attached to the Lyttelton Police Station and the second body was that of Constable Senoge,” he said.
Masemola said they had to abandon the search as it was already dark. He said in the morning, the third body was discovered, which is believed to be that of Cebekhulu.
“We further found a fourth decomposed body. We are still trying to identify who this person is. Later in the afternoon, we sadly found the fifth body of Buys.
“The families were taken to the mortuary, where they identified the bodies of the officials. We are still searching for the VW Polo and our investigation is continuing,” said Masemola.
He said they do not want to speculate at this stage what led to the discovery of these bodies in this river, whether it was an accident or not, their investigation will reveal those aspects once they find their vehicle. Masemola said they would like to thank the families, and the task team involved in the search for working tirelessly to ensure a breakthrough in this case.
“The police were hoping for a positive outcome in the case. Be that as it may, we are relieved that we could provide the painful closure to the families and the broader SAPS family. Investigations are still continuing into this matter,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police, Ian Cameron, has expressed deep sadness and disbelief following the identification of four bodies of members of the South African Police Service (SAPS), including three officers who went missing for over a week.
Cameron has called for the intensification of the investigation to ascertain the circumstances that led to the death of the officers.
“It is heart-breaking to learn of the death of the SAPS officers when we were all hoping that they might be found alive and well.
“This tragic loss is not only felt by the family but by all within the law enforcement sector as these were committed officers on their way to their assigned duty,” he said.
Cameron also highlighted the need for the SAPS to investigate the cause of death of the other two bodies retrieved in the Hennops River. He said it is unusual that so many unrelated bodies could be found in one area.
“An intensive investigation must get to the bottom of what has happened to all the dead bodies. We also commend SAPS for the speed with which the investigation was undertaken and urged for such speed to be the standard across the board.
“Trust between the SAPS and communities will be re-established if all cases are handled with such compassion, care and diligence,” said Cameron.
He said the SAPS specialised teams, who worked tirelessly over the past six days across several provinces to locate the missing individuals must be commended. Cameron said, however, serious questions remain and they will monitor the progress of the investigation closely.
“The committee extends its heartfelt condolences to the families, friends, and colleagues of the deceased during this painful time,” he said.
Additional reporting- SAnews.gov.za
The Guardian 