The National Commissioner of the South African Police Service (SAPS), General Fannie Masemola, has confirmed that the three police officers who went missing last week are among the five bodies recovered from the Hennops River.
Speaking during a media briefing at the river on Tuesday night, Masemola said the bodies of Constable Keamogetswe Buys, Constable Boipelo Senoge, and Constable Cebekhulu Linda had been identified by their families at the Tshwane mortuary.
“It has been a difficult six days for members of the South African Police Service and affected families, as we searched everywhere for our three missing police officers,” Masemola said.
The trio was last seen in the early hours of Thursday at a petrol station near the Grasmere Toll Plaza on the N1 in Gauteng.
Their vehicle, a Volkswagen Polo hatchback with registration number JCL 401 FS, along with their cellphones and tracking device, were switched off after they left the station.
Masemola said a high-level team of investigators had worked tirelessly across Gauteng, the Free State, and Limpopo following all possible leads.
Their search eventually led to an area along the N1 highway, stretching from the Grasmere Toll Plaza past the Buccleuch interchange and onto John Vorster Drive in Centurion.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I am unfortunately not the bearer of good news this evening,” said Masemola.
“We had hoped to find our three police officers safe, unharmed, and alive, but this is not the case.”
He confirmed that five bodies were found in the river, including the three missing officers and two others. One of the other victims was identified as an administrative clerk attached to the Lyttelton Police Station.
Masemola detailed how investigators, with the assistance of the SAPS drone unit, the cybercrime and crime intelligence divisions, the Hawks, Gauteng Traffic Airwing, and Bidvest Protea Coin Airwing, made the breakthrough on Monday.
“On Monday, we found vehicle parts believed to be from a VW Polo along the N1 near the Hennops River. That led us to a Renault Kangoo panel van at the riverbank,” he said.
Divers from SAPS and the City of Tshwane began searching the area, recovering two bodies—the driver of the panel van, later confirmed to be the SAPS admin clerk, and Constable Senoge.
As night fell, the search was suspended due to the lack of visibility and safety concerns
The following morning, the third body, believed to be that of Constable Linda, was recovered.
Later, a fourth decomposed body was found, and identification efforts are ongoing.
“Sadly, later this afternoon, we found the fifth body, which was confirmed to be Constable Buys,” Masemola added.
He said the families of all five individuals were taken to the mortuary, where they identified their loved ones.
However, the search for the officers’ missing vehicle continues.
“We are still searching for the VW Polo, and our investigation is ongoing,” Masemola said.
“We don’t want to speculate at this stage about what led to the discovery of the bodies in the river—whether it was an accident or not. The investigation will reveal those details once we find the vehicle.”
Masemola thanked the families and the SAPS task team for their relentless efforts.
“This is not how we expected this case to unfold. We were hoping for a positive outcome. Be that as it may, we are relieved that we could provide painful closure to the families and the broader SAPS community.”
On Sunday, SAPS announced a R350,000 reward for information leading to the whereabouts of the missing officers.
The announcement was made in Bloemfontein by Masemola, flanked by Free State Premier Maqueen Letsoha-Mathae and SAPS Deputy National Commissioner for Crime Detection Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya.
simon.majadibodu@iol.co.za
IOL News
