Suspect In South African University Student Murder Shot Dead In Gun Battle With Police

Olorato Mongale

Source: Africa Publicity

One of the suspects in the gruesome murder of a South African university student has been shot dead in a gun battle with police.

 

The suspect had been linked to the murder of Olorato Mongale, whose body was found on the side of a road in Lombardy, Johannesburg on Sunday.

 

Olorato’s body was found about two hours after she was reported missing having gone on a date.

 

Early on Friday, May 30, 2025, South African police found the main suspect hiding at a residential complex in the coastal town of Amanzimtoti, according to Brig Athlenda Mathe, South Africa Police spokesperson.

Brig Mathe says the suspect – who yet to be named as at the time of filing this report – fired at the police officers who returned fire and killed him.

 

According to regional police Commissioner, Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, at the time of the suspect’s killing, he had 28 ID cards and several mobile phones in his possession.

 

South Africa’s Police Minister called Olorato Mongale’s killing “inhumane” and “grumesome”, saying “To all men, this is a plea – simple, urgent, and human: Please, stop killing women.”

 

Parents detained

 

Police have taken the parents of the deceased suspect into custody as they continue their search for two other suspects in the murder case.

 

Gang broke up, suspects named

 

Police investigating Mongale’s murder had said on Thursday, May 29, that they had broken up a gang targeting young women in shopping centres for kidnapping and robbery.

 

Late on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, police named three suspects they believe may be involved in Olorato’s killing.

 

Police spokesperson, Brig Athlenda Mathe, says “We have broken the back of a syndicate that is targeting women, especially young women in malls…for kidnapping and robbery.”

 

According to police, they had seized the vehicle, a VW Polo, that was allegedly used in the killing of 30-year-old Olorato Mongale.

 

Brig Mathe says “The vehicle was found with traces of blood inside at a panel beater workshop in Phoenix, Durban.

 

A man Police believed was the owner of the vehicle, has been arrested.

 

Police have also released photos of three other suspects – Fezile Ngubane, Philangenkosi Sibongokuhle Makhanya and Bongani Mthimkhulu – who are said to be on the run.

 

According to police, two of the suspects – Makhanya and Mthimkhulu – were arrested in April this year for kidnapping and robbing a woman in KwaZulu-Natal, using the same vehicle that has been seized. Police said they were currently out on bail.

 

Brig Mathe says the three suspects were “dangerous”.

 

She therefore warned me of the public not to approach them.

 

She urged “These suspects are warned to hand themselves over at their nearest police station.”

 

Mongale was one of three women killed in South Africa in recent days. She was a journalism graduate from Rhodes University and worked as a reporter at the TimesLive news website.

 

Her friends said she was invited for a date by a man only identified as John, who she had met in Johannesburg, where she was studying for a postgraduate degree at Witwatersand University.

 

Mongale reportedly texted one of her friends shortly before leaving home, saying she was excited and getting ready for her date.

 

But police found her body later, sparking public outrage and calls for justice.

 

South Africa’s most recent crime statistics showed that between January and March 2025, 137 women were killed and over 1,000 others raped.

 

A study by the University of the Free State in a study, found that in 2020, an average of one woman died in South Africa at the hands of her intimate partner.