Machawe Tsela

The incident began when sixty-nine-year-old Khasima Freddy Mkhomazi, his twenty-one-year-old son Gift Mkhomazi, and their sixty-two-year-old colleague Machawe Tsela were captured at gunpoint at the property. The perpetrators demanded a ransom payment of ten thousand rands for their release, but the situation escalated into violence. The victims were driven away, killed, and their bodies were dumped in a dense bushy area along the R535 road running between Hazyview and Graskop.All three victims died from being burned beyond recognition. Their remains were discovered by police investigators a week later on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, and subsequent DNA testing conducted in May 2026 legally authenticated their identities.A twenty-eight-year-old male suspect was arrested by law enforcement shortly after the discovery of the bodies. He faces formal criminal charges for both the armed kidnapping and the triple murder, while the comprehensive police investigation continues through the courts.