[Image: FMT]
Three more suspects have now stood before the bench in connection with the brazen kidnapping of businessman Eddie Duarte Gouveia.
The three Limpopo men, Vusimusi Emmanuel Ndhove, Khathutshelo Godfrey Mutswana, and James Bonginkosi Simelane made a brief appearance at the Louis Trichardt magistrate’s court. They are facing serious charges: extortion, robbery with aggravating circumstances, and kidnapping.
According to Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority, the ordeal began on October 16, 2024, when a group of men allegedly ambushed the 51-year-old at gunpoint while he was locking up his shop, Fire Fly in Industrial Street, Louis Trichardt.
They dragged him off to an undisclosed location and demanded a staggering ransom of R15 million from his family, Malabi-Dzhangi said.
The wheels of justice ground into motion after an intense police investigation that led to the arrest of nine additional suspects in November. Mishack Gumede, 51, Nhlalwenhle Skhosane, 32, Sakhile Gumbi, 35, Khumbusani Nyathi, 34, Abdulmani Mahomed, 54, Ripfumelo Lodwish Ngobeni, 29, Stanley Sithole, 44, Qhubekani Nkiwane, 45, and Mulalo Mutswana, 39, have already faced the court. Their case has been postponed to March 3 for further bail hearings.
The case against Ndhove, 25, Mutswana, 44, and Simelane,41, was postponed until Wednesday.
After being taken in October last year, Gouveia was finally rescued last week in a house in Vuwani informal settlement, about 60km from Louis Trichardt.
Louis Trichardt businessman, Eddie Gouveia, has been rescued by police after he was kidnapped in October last year.
The 51-year-old was taken at gunpoint by a group of men on 16 October, in front of his business, Fire Fly in Industrial Street.
He was forced into a vehicle.… pic.twitter.com/TnZL6BvlsX
— Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) January 24, 2025
The scary part is that this kind of grim saga is not the only one unfolding in our business districts, streets and courts at any given moment.
[Source: IOL]
