13 Sep 2022

Selebi Phikwe Police have engaged a pathologist to establish the identity of a human skeleton found at Distance ward in Selebi Phikwe.

Officer Commanding District No. 10 Senior Superintendent Meshack Pulenyane said in an interview that the police received a report from Ipelegeng workers who had found a skeleton in one of the abandoned houses at Distance ward during their routine work on September 12.

“According to the report we received, one of the workers who was on duty opened the house while cleaning the yard and found skeleton-like bones in the house and a few belongings among them a bed, handcuffs and other small items,” he said. He said during the investigations, the neighbours explained that they did not know the deceased but only knew that the person who occupied that house worked as a security officer and they saw him for the last time last year.

Mr Pulenyane also explained that the deceased was not on the police missing person list as all the people who were reported missing in Selebi Phikwe had been found.

He pleaded with the community to resuscitate neighbourhood watch teams, emphasising that neighbourhood watch did not only curb crime but also helped to establish relationships among members of the community.

Senior Superintendent Pulenyane said police investigations were ongoing to establish the identity of the deceased and the cause of death.

Meanwhile, Selebi Phikwe Police have nabbed 27 people for various offences ranging from possession of offensive weapons such as knives to possession of dagga during an operation conducted in Mmadinare over the weekend.  Selebi Phikwe Station Commander Superintendent Nicholas Kadiatla explained in an interview that the operation was prompted by high crime rate.

“The stop and search operation has helped minimise delinquency in Mmadinare during that period. Also, two people were charged for selling alcohol without permits,” he said. Supt Kadiatla said the crime situation in Mmadinare was worrisome hence the police would conduct more operations in the area to arrest the situation. Ends