Suspects in court for PMB principal's murder
The suspects were hauled into the Mountain Rise police station on Friday by detectives who traced Magwanyana’s cellphone to a foreign-owned shop in Pietermaritzburg.
Although police spokesperson Colonel Jay Naicker said the suspects, aged 22 and 30, were arrested for murder, police sources said the arrest was made on charges of possession of stolen items instead. Naicker said the two men are due to appear in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court today.
“Other merits of the case cannot be revealed at this stage since they are part of police investigation,” Naicker said.
Magwanyana was found with deep hack wounds in her car on the Table Mountain Road while returning to her Hammarsdale home after school on August 26. She suffered eight deep cuts to the back of her neck, her upper back, shoulder and right leg. The side of her face was also deeply cut.
It is suspected that Magwanyana was killed by a group who had been trying to intimidate her into resigning after her appointment as principal reportedly sparked tensions.
The Witness reported that the school’s offices were vandalised with messages painted on the wall threatening Magwanyana would be killed if she did not resign.
(File photo: Gallo Images)