A high-ranking member of Terene ea Khosi Mokata, a Lesotho Famo music gang involved in illegal mining, is among four suspects arrested by Gauteng police in connection with the Soweto tavern massacre in which 16 people were shot dead.
Police made the arrests on Thursday and Friday.
Police spokesperson Brig Brenda Muridili said one of the suspects was arrested in Johannesburg on Thursday while a second was arrested in the Northern Cape on Friday.
“On Thursday, national crime intelligence officers arrested one suspect who was then linked to the Nomzamo shooting incident in Johannesburg.
“The suspect was handed over to Gauteng’s murder and robbery investigating team for further handling. He then led the team to one of his accomplices who was arrested in Northern Cape on Friday.”
She said police then arrested two more suspects.
“One of them is linked to the murder of a Lesotho musician in Kliptown in October 2021 and an attempted murder in Orlando in May this year. The other suspect was held on a warrant of arrest for a double murder in Doornkop in 2021 in which two Basotho nationals were killed,” she said.
The four suspects are expected to appear in the Orlando magistrate’s court on Monday.
A lawyer representing one of the arrested men, who declined to be named, confirmed to TimesLIVE his client, an executive member of Terene ea Khosi Mokata, was arrested on Thursday night. TimesLIVE knows the name of the suspect but may not disclose it as he has not been formally charged in court.
Though confirming his client was arrested during the police operation, he said he did not know which murders his client would be charged for.
“I received a call on Friday morning indicating that one of my clients has been arrested. I attempted to get a hold of him but his phones were off. I attempted to get hold of the police to find out where he was being kept but I have not been able to get through to them either,” said the lawyer.
On September 5 Gauteng police said a warrant of arrest had been issued for Terene ea Khosi Mokata leader Sarele “Lehlanya” Sello and four other members — Tshepiso Khowa Radebe, Thabang Radikatara, Tshidiso Moleko and Keletso Rabasotho — for the murder of 16 people at Mdlalose's Tavern in Orlando on July 10.
The killings happened when a group of armed men, who were allegedly targeting members of Lesotho’s Terene ea Khosi Chakela, stormed the tavern and shot indiscriminately at patrons, injuring seven other people.
The massacre is allegedly linked to a feud between rival gangs. The groups have been locked in a cycle of revenge killings across the reef in Gauteng, the Free State and North West for years. At the centre of the bloody feud are scores of abandoned mines. They provide the gangs illegally mining them with millions of rand in gold monthly.
On September 2, TimesLIVE reported that specialised Gauteng detectives traced the alleged killers and narrowly missed arresting them at the Maseru border post on August 18. TimesLIVE established that Sello and the other suspects allegedly first hid in Vereeniging and Klerksdorp in North West, before escaping into Lesotho where they are still free.
Through sources in the Lesotho security services, the SAPS and illegal miners, it was established the operation to apprehend Sello and his gang members, sanctioned by senior Gauteng police officers, was carried out without the knowledge of Lesotho security forces.
Muridili last month declined to comment on the meeting and operation, saying: “We are not at liberty to discuss information that forms part of an ongoing investigation for fear of jeopardising the investigation.”
TimesLIVE
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High-ranking gangster among four arrested for Soweto tavern massacre
Image: Phathu Luvhengo
A high-ranking member of Terene ea Khosi Mokata, a Lesotho Famo music gang involved in illegal mining, is among four suspects arrested by Gauteng police in connection with the Soweto tavern massacre in which 16 people were shot dead.
Police made the arrests on Thursday and Friday.
Police spokesperson Brig Brenda Muridili said one of the suspects was arrested in Johannesburg on Thursday while a second was arrested in the Northern Cape on Friday.
“On Thursday, national crime intelligence officers arrested one suspect who was then linked to the Nomzamo shooting incident in Johannesburg.
“The suspect was handed over to Gauteng’s murder and robbery investigating team for further handling. He then led the team to one of his accomplices who was arrested in Northern Cape on Friday.”
She said police then arrested two more suspects.
“One of them is linked to the murder of a Lesotho musician in Kliptown in October 2021 and an attempted murder in Orlando in May this year. The other suspect was held on a warrant of arrest for a double murder in Doornkop in 2021 in which two Basotho nationals were killed,” she said.
The four suspects are expected to appear in the Orlando magistrate’s court on Monday.
A lawyer representing one of the arrested men, who declined to be named, confirmed to TimesLIVE his client, an executive member of Terene ea Khosi Mokata, was arrested on Thursday night. TimesLIVE knows the name of the suspect but may not disclose it as he has not been formally charged in court.
Though confirming his client was arrested during the police operation, he said he did not know which murders his client would be charged for.
“I received a call on Friday morning indicating that one of my clients has been arrested. I attempted to get a hold of him but his phones were off. I attempted to get hold of the police to find out where he was being kept but I have not been able to get through to them either,” said the lawyer.
On September 5 Gauteng police said a warrant of arrest had been issued for Terene ea Khosi Mokata leader Sarele “Lehlanya” Sello and four other members — Tshepiso Khowa Radebe, Thabang Radikatara, Tshidiso Moleko and Keletso Rabasotho — for the murder of 16 people at Mdlalose's Tavern in Orlando on July 10.
The killings happened when a group of armed men, who were allegedly targeting members of Lesotho’s Terene ea Khosi Chakela, stormed the tavern and shot indiscriminately at patrons, injuring seven other people.
The massacre is allegedly linked to a feud between rival gangs. The groups have been locked in a cycle of revenge killings across the reef in Gauteng, the Free State and North West for years. At the centre of the bloody feud are scores of abandoned mines. They provide the gangs illegally mining them with millions of rand in gold monthly.
On September 2, TimesLIVE reported that specialised Gauteng detectives traced the alleged killers and narrowly missed arresting them at the Maseru border post on August 18. TimesLIVE established that Sello and the other suspects allegedly first hid in Vereeniging and Klerksdorp in North West, before escaping into Lesotho where they are still free.
Through sources in the Lesotho security services, the SAPS and illegal miners, it was established the operation to apprehend Sello and his gang members, sanctioned by senior Gauteng police officers, was carried out without the knowledge of Lesotho security forces.
Muridili last month declined to comment on the meeting and operation, saying: “We are not at liberty to discuss information that forms part of an ongoing investigation for fear of jeopardising the investigation.”
TimesLIVE
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
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