Main suspect in Olorato Mongale murder ‘confessed’

Philangenkosi Makhanya died in a shootout with police at a block of flats on Arbour Road on Friday morning. 

It's less than a week since 30-year-old Mongale was found murdered, after apparently leaving home for a date in Johannesburg. 

Detectives in Durban have been tracking Makhanya and two other suspects' whereabouts after seizing a vehicle linked to the crime in Phoenix on Wednesday. 

The VW Polo belongs to Makhanya's father. 

KZN police chief, Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, said on Friday that the son fled and arrived in Amanzimtoti on Thursday, in an attempt to rent a car from a local resident.

" He didn't give him a car because he had seen his photo in the media, that he was wanted for something. So he kept him here, and he was interrogating, asking him why and what happened. And he said he confessed to him of what he did in Joburg. And then he wanted to commit suicide, and he didn't want to hand himself over to the police. So he spent the whole day with him."

Mkhwanazi said the police would be taking the man's statement.

" He was trying to console him, praying and trying to encourage him to turn himself over. This is what this guy tells us. Obviously, his statement would prove that. The shooting happened when the police arrived. This guy confirms that he did not search him.

"He doesn't know whether he was getting a firearm. So when the police came in, knocked at the door and opened the door, that's when he pulled out his gun."