THULAMAHASHE – The spokesperson of the police in the Lowveld, Insp. Hasani Mabaso, revealed that they have no choice but to close a case, after all three the suspects in an armed robbery case died in a motor accident.

The incident relating to the case took place at the Thulamahashe Social Welfare office's premises two weeks ago, on Friday June 7, at about 13:30.

According to the police statement, the complainant, Mrs Jelly Refilwe (47) of Thulamahashe Township, was in the company of a friend when the incident occurred. The two were walking to the parking area where Refilwe's car was parked. When they arrived at the car, they were approached by two armed men. The men demanded the car keys and drove away with the vehicle.

They picked up another man a short distance away from the scene. The matter was reported to the police soon thereafter. The police responded by manning a roadblock along the Acornhoek road.

Realising that there was a roadblock on the way, the robbers made a U-turn and took the direction of Thulamahashe via the Mbumbule area. According to the statement they were driving at a high speed. Along the way the stolen vehicle collided head-on with another vehicle, a Toyota bakkie.

According to the police, there were three occupants in the bakkie. The three occupants of the bakkie were taken to the nearby hospital with serious injuries. Two of the occupants of the stolen vehicle died at the spot.

The third one was taken to hospital in a critical condition. He also died in hospital a few days after the incident.

The three suspects were identified as Mike Khumalo (31) and Job Silinda (29) from Katlehong in Gauteng and Kufumani Malamulele (27) from Heidelberg. Mabaso stated that they had closed the case after the death of the third suspect in hospital.

According to him, the police were adamant that the trio were members of the car hijacking syndicate that has made several armed robberies in the area during the past months.