Kamogelo Olaitan
Mbuso Biyela was shot dead in the early hours of Sunday morning at his hideout in Sahlumbe village in Weenen, KwaZulu-Natal.
Biyela, who has been on the run from Gauteng police for months, was wanted for serious crimes including the murder of a police officer in October 2021.
“Biyela was positively linked to five Jabulani cases of murder committed between October 2021 and March 2022,” said Brigadier Brenda Muridili.
“He was further linked to a Lenasia hijacking in 2017, a case for possession of an unlicensed firearm and a murder in KZN in 2020.”
He was previously arrested in KZN and Gauteng for murder in August 2020 and October 2021.
A month ago the police issued a R100000 reward for his arrest after escaping from custody last year.
Muridili said when provincial members of the Serious and Violent Crimes Unit, the tracking team, Soweto district crime intelligence, and Gauteng and KZN tactical response teams approached Biyela’s hideout, he started firing shots at members who retaliated.
Biyela was fatally wounded while none of the members sustained injuries.
Gauteng provincial commissioner General Elias Mawela said information from the community helped police in the hunt for Biyela.
“The calls we received helped us a lot. Thank you to the public. Together we have ensured the end of Biyela’s reign of terror,” he said.
