Sambo murder: Suspect released due to lack of evidence

Update

MOSSEL BAY NEWS - The 23-year-old man who was arrested in connection with the murder of Nhlamulo Sambo (19) was meant to make his first appearance in the Mossel Bay Magistrate’s Court on Friday 5 June.

However, he was released from police custody instead, reportedly due to a lack of evidence.

Due to the fact that he did not make a formal appearance in court, his identity cannot be shared.

A spokesperson for the Southern Cape Police, Warrant Officer Chris Spies, told Mossel Bay Advertiser that, although the suspect was released, the investigations into the murder continue.

Sambo was killed a couple of days after the public unrest against the presence of illegal foreign nationals in Mossel Bay had erupted on Friday 29 May.

Spies previously told the paper the teen had been stabbed during an alleged altercation with another man on Sunday 31 May.

Lieutenant General Thembisile Patekile, the Western Cape police commissioner, said a preliminary investigation indicated that Sambo’s death was due to a burglary gone wrong.

According to the police, Sambo and a 15-year-old boy were allegedly caught stealing from a residence and were attacked by the homeowner in response.

Nhamulo’s body was discovered with a stab wound to the chest during the early hours of Sunday morning, in the New Rest informal settlement in KwaNonqaba.

The man formerly suspected of the murder was arrested by the KwaNonqaba Police on 2 June.

During the afternoon following his release, the man told eNCA he was framed for the crime. According to him, he had been walking with a friend to a residence in Asla Park on Saturday 30 May, which they were looking after for the weekend.

“He [Sambo] and another kid came running out [from the residence], so my friend and I chased him,” said the man. He claims that another group of people appeared and started attacking the victim.

“I found out in the morning that I had allegedly killed someone,” he said.

The Sambo family had claimed that Nhlamulo had been murdered because he was a Tsonga man in a predominantly Xhosa community and was allegedly mistaken for a foreign national, when he was actually a South African citizen.

However, the police have denied that his murder was linked to the unrest.

The family has since also strongly rejected the claims that Nhlamulo had been stealing.

Nhlamulo was buried in Limpopo on Saturday 6 June.

Previous articles: