A key witness in the Soweto tavern massacre was allegedly abducted at gunpoint by four people posing as police officers and has been missing since then.
He is believed to have been murdered, with pictures suspected to be of his body doing the rounds on social media.
Khotso Suwane was allegedly abducted by three men and a woman pretending to be police detectives at Jerusalem, an informal settlement in Roodepoort, last week Thursday.
Suwane, a member of the infamous Basotho gang, Terene ea Chakela, was a key witness in the deadly mass shooting that led to the deaths of 16 tavern patrons in Nomzamo Park, Soweto, in July last year.
Suwane’s gang and a rival Basotho gang known as Terene ea Mokata have been locked in a cycle of revenge murders since 2021 that have seen numerous gang affiliates lose their lives.
Police spokesperson Lt-Col Mavela Masondo said they could not comment on the matter because a missing person’s report had not been filed with SAPS nor had the murder been reported to them.
However, according to a police source close to the matter, Suwane was not only a key witness in the tavern massacre but had been instrumental in assisting the police in other murders related to the deadly gangs’ wars spanning Gauteng, Free State and North West.
The officer, who cannot be named as he is not authorised to speak to the media, said: “I know about his disappearance, and I saw the pictures of his body. He was assisting us with a number of murder cases that we are working on. I received a message that he was killed because of his collaboration with the police.
Suwane’s fellow gang members told TimesLIVE Investigations that he was abducted shortly after he conducted a meeting in the informal settlement, where he and other illegal miners had divided the profits from their day’s labour.
“He had just arrived at home when a white vehicle with four occupants stopped outside his home. Three men wearing buffer masks dragged him out of his house at gunpoint. A lady who was with the three men told us they were police officers and wanted to question him for something,” said the gang member.
“We asked them which police station they came from, but they didn’t respond to our questions.”
He said they were left in disbelief when they came across pictures of Suwane’s lifeless body circulating on social media later that day.
One of the pictures, which TimesLIVE has seen, was captioned in Sesotho: “Had I not lied and spoken to the police I would still be alive,” while another gruesome picture depicts Suwane’s battered body lying in a pool of blood.
“It’s clear those people who said to be police officers were working for our rivals because we have not been able to get hold of him, and we’ve seen his pictures are all over Facebook,” said the gang member.
Another gang member, who asked not to be named, said Suwane was living around Nomzamo Park when the massacre happened and had been key in helping the police make a breakthrough in the case.
“He was one of the people who pointed out to the police who was [allegedly] behind the shooting. He saw some of them that night because he lived in the area, but he was forced to relocate after the shooting,” said the gang member.
At least 24 people, including the 16 at the tavern and Makhaleme, have been murdered since the start of the rivalry.
Other murders alleged to have been committed in the ongoing conflict include:
- Kefuoe “Lelimo” Letsatsi, who was shot in Germiston in May.
- Lerotha Hlabanyane, who was killed outside his home in Klipspruit, Soweto, on July 9.
- Tshepo “Sephaka” Koepe, who was among the 16 patrons killed in the Soweto tavern massacre on July 10.
- Tsekiso Makate, who was also killed in Klipspruit while playing pool on October 3 2021. Makate’s younger brother, Mojalefa Makate, was also shot, but survived the attack.
Terene and many other Lesotho groups have their origins in SA’s migrant labour system, which saw thousands of Lesotho nationals come in search of greener pastures in this country’s growing mining sector in the 1940s.
The purpose of the groups was to provide protection and brotherhood to their members, and extended to funeral services for migrant workers.
The groups are known to carry out vicious attacks on each other, their gripes rooted in disagreements originating in Lesotho. They fight for control of illegal mining activities, urban recycling and theft of copper cables.
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