Three murder-accused suspects who escaped from police custody are expected to be extradited from Mozambique.
This after failing to appear before the Polokwane High Court on Monday, 19 January 2026.
Patrick Javas Mongwe, 49, Patrick Mabono Mbhombi, 39, Thabo Moye Makgoga, 24, and Khensani Mathebula, 32, were scheduled to appear in court on Monday.
Only accused number four, Mathebula, appeared. The remaining three accused were absent, having allegedly escaped from Ritavi police custody and fled to Mozambique in June 2025.
Mathebula was married to the late Themba Reymond Mathebula.
In June 2024, she allegedly contracted the services of the other accused to murder her husband, promising to pay them for carrying out the crime, said National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Mashudu Malabi.
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“On 14 June 2024, the accused allegedly entered the deceased’s home while he was asleep, forcibly removed him, and placed him in his motor vehicle.
“They are alleged to have driven to Constantia Road, where the car was stopped under a bridge. Acting in concert, the accused allegedly set the vehicle alight while the deceased was inside,” she said on Thursday.
The matter has been postponed to 4 August 2026 to allow for the finalisation of the extradition process.
Murder suspects escape
Police in Letsitele, near Tzaneed in the Mopani district, launched a manhunt on 24 June 2025 following the three men’s escape from police cells that morning.
At the time, police described the three suspects as dangerous and armed.
They allegedly overpowered police on duty and fled on foot.
More prison escapes
Last month, police in the North West identified and rearrested three prison escapees who escaped from Rooigrond Correctional Centre between February 2010 and March 2022.
In the first incident reported on 04 February 2010, a detainee aged 28 at the correctional centre was tasked to take rubbish to a dumping site, but he escaped.
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At the time of the escape, he was serving eight years’ imprisonment for robbery, committed in Sannieshof.
He was found in detention at Upington Prison for serving a life sentence for a murder case, committed in 2011, said North West police.
He appeared before the Mmabatho Magistrates’ Court on 1 December 2025.
In the second incident, reported at the same correctional centre on 14 March 2022, Edward Khomotso Madiba, 36, was found missing during rollcall.
He was serving 20 years’ imprisonment for aggravated robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm. A Warrant of Arrest was obtained, and he was re-arrested at Johannesburg Correctional Centre on 19 November 2025, where he was detained on another case.
He appeared before the Mmabatho Magistrates’ Court on 20 November 2025, and was remanded in custody until 10 February 2026.
In the last incident, also reported at the same correctional centre on 14 March 2022, another inmate, aged 39, was also found missing during rollcall.
An inspection of the cell revealed that the burglar bars on a window had been removed. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for two separate cases of rape and housebreaking.
Subsequent investigations led police to Bethal Correctional Centre, where the inmate was detained on another separate case.
He appeared before the Mmabatho Magistrate’s Court on 3 December 2025, for escape from lawful custody.
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