Publications
Partners
A twist in the investigation into the murder of businessman Wandile Bozwana has seen the spotlight shifting from the North West to Pretoria, where a nightclub owner has been charged for the killing while the net was closing in on another local businessman.
It has also emerged that the actual triggerman has been identified and investigators were on his trail. Two men who were arrested in November last year are believed to have been part of a gang of assassins commissioned for a hit on Bozwana.
The Pretoria club owner is believed to have been the “commander” of the gang. The court has ordered that the media not reveal his name for his own safety.
Meanwhile, there were strong indications that Bozwana’s death was orchestrated by those he had once trusted, been in business with or even dined with.
Those close to the Hawks probe said the plot could be thicker than originally thought. They said the investigation was still to reveal the financier of the hit on Bozwana but was getting close.
A 29-year-old Pretoria nightclub owner became the third suspect when he was charged for Bozwana’s murder last week after handing himself over to the police in relation to three house robbery charges. The Hawks described him as the “mastermind” of the killing.
The soon-to-be arrested man is known to have had business dealings with the murdered property and construction tycoon.
The investigation’s focus seemed to have shifted from the North West, where it started with at least one businessman taken in for questioning twice.
Bozwana – whose large property portfolio is based in Mahikeng where he also started his business – was outspoken against the provincial administration led by Premier Supra Mahumapelo, whom he accused of sidelining him and other businesspeople from the province from doing business with government.
He had also been entangled in litigation with Mahumapelo’s administration, including a Constitutional Court case which sat three days before his murder.
The North West government had approached the highest court in a bid to stop Bozwana from attaching 44 government-owned vehicles and a state bank account with a balance of R30 million in seeking a payment of more than R40 million owed to him in relation to Brits hospital’s construction.
Mahumapelo was one of those publicly fingered but he denied any involvement in the murder.
The spotlight has shifted to Pretoria, where Bozwana died in hospital a while after an unknown gunmen shot him at the Garsfontein off-ramp on the N1 on October 2 last year.
Investigators were studying statements by the first pair arrested last year as well as CCTV footage taken from a number of spots, including Sandton from where Bozwana was believed to have been followed before his murder.
It is believed that his movements had been studied for some days and it was decided that the hit would be made on the day he returned from a Sandton men’s “grooming studio”, which he frequented.
Meanwhile, the fourth suspect, who is known to City Press, has been described by Bozwana’s brother Benedict as the deceased’s former business associate. Benedict said the two had a falling-out linked to a disastrous construction contract.
While in pursuit of the fourth suspect, the elite police crime investigations unit built a profile of the Sunnyside, Pretoria nightclub owner. Sources in the Hawks said investigators were hoping to link the man to a number of other crimes.
The suspect reserved the right to apply for bail when he appeared in court last week.
Bozwana’s allies said the club owner was no stranger to Bozwana, although nothing much was known in terms of any business relations between the two men.
“All I know is that he owns a nightclub and I don’t understand why a Sunday newspaper report said he wanted my brother dead because he was blocking his way for tenders. My brother did business mostly in the North West and Northern Cape and no one knows where in this two provinces he could have tried to block [the club owner],” Benedict said.
“The man whom the police are looking for once worked with my brother in a building project in which he failed to deliver and his contract had to be terminated. [Bozwana] was not impressed and when he raised his concerns the [suspect] then started threatening him and promised to ‘solve him’ the way men do.”
The Hawks did not rule out the possibility of more arrests. The elite police unit boss, Major General Mthandazo Ntlemeza, seemed proud of the progress made in the case since it was elevated to his unit recently.
“While one does not want to prejudge the matter, this should serve as a warning to criminals that the Hawks are committed to fighting serious organised crime. If we believe there is reason to be suspicious we will not hesitate to arrest those responsible and let the law take its course,” Ntlemeza said.
