Police confirm bodies in Hennops River as those of missing officers

National police commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola confirmed on Tuesday that three of the five bodies retrieved in the Hennops River were those of three missing police officers.

Constables Cebekhulu Linda, 24, Keamogetswe Buys, 30, and Boipelo Senoge, 20, were last seen on April 23 at Engen garage near Grasmere toll plaza along the N1. Masemola confirmed that the three members were found, together with two other bodies, including an admin clerk attached to the Lyttelton police station.

The families were taken to the mortuary where they identified the bodies of their children and loved ones. 

Masemola said the investigation and search led the team to the Hennops River in Centurion on Monday.

“We first found pieces of vehicle parts believed to be of a VW Polo along the N1 where we are standing at this moment, that led us to the banks of the river where we found a Renault Kangoo panel van.

“Our SAPS and Tshwane divers immediately commenced with the search, and discovered two bodies, one of the drivers of the Renault panel van who it has just came to light he is one of our employees attached to the Lyttelton police station and the second body was that of Const Senoge. We had to abandon the search as it was already dark,” he said.

The third body, believed to be of Linda, was found in the morning.

Masemola said police were still trying to identify the fourth body, which was found decomposed. Later in the afternoon, the fifth body, of Buys, was retrieved.

He said police were still searching for the VW Polo. 

“We don’t want to speculate at this stage what led to the bodies being in the river, whether it was an accident. Our investigation will reveal those aspects once we find their vehicle.

“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 the painful closure to the families and the broader SAPS family,” he said.

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