Men who forced hijacked motorists down mine shaft to be sentenced

He was hijacked‚ ordered to drive‚ pushed out of the vehicle‚ blind-folded and forced to jump down a 45 metre deep mine shaft.

Police searching for missing 50-year-old Phillip Daniel Monkwe later found his body‚ along with that of a second hijacked motorist‚ down the same disused mine shaft in Mpumalanga.

Four men‚ who have been convicted of robbery with aggravating circumstances‚ kidnapping and murdering the motorists nearly three years ago‚ will be sentenced for the gruesome crimes by the North Gauteng High Court sitting in Middleburg on August 28.

They are Thabang Elvis Nthako‚ 36‚ Samson Bhuti Makuwa‚ 25‚ George Maswanganyi‚ 27‚ and Bheki David Mokoena‚ 33.

Police spokesman Brigadier Leonard Hlathi said that Nthako was arrested in November 2014 after being found a vehicle owned by Monkwe – who at the time had been reported missing.

It emerged that the victim had given the four men a lift when “along the way they held him at gunpoint and instructed him to drive in the direction of an old mine shaft.

“Upon arrival‚ he was blind-folded then forced out the vehicle‚ placed near the mine shaft which was about 45m deep‚ then told to jump into the shaft‚ where he fell to his death.”

The mine shaft was pointed out during a police investigation.

“While retrieving Monkwe’s remains‚ police discovered another body which was later identified as that of David Vusi Majola aged 39‚ who had been reported as missing. The four men were later linked to Majola’s death who was hijacked and thrown into the same shaft.”