Three people are expected to appear at the Stellenbosch Magistrate’s Court today in connection with the murder of Stellenbosch student Jesse Mitchell.
Their co-accused, Rudolf Hufke, 19, appeared in court on Friday.
The four are accused of murdering first-year student Mitchell in the early hours of Wednesday last week.
Police spokesperson Malcolm Pojie said Mitchell was allegedly robbed and stabbed to death.
“Initial reports suggest that the first-year student was robbed and stabbed on October 16 at about 3am.
The victim was riding his bicycle down Borcherd Street, Stellenbosch when he was accosted, stabbed in the neck and robbed of his personal belongings. He succumbed due to a fatal stab wound to the neck.
“Intricate investigation by Stellenbosch detectives in collaboration with Crime Intelligence led to the arrest of a 19-year-old male suspect within hours of the commission of the crime.
“On October 18, Stellenbosch Crime Prevention arrested three more suspects, two males aged 29 and 28 as well as a 31-year-old female in Cloetesville, Stellenbosch. They are scheduled to make their court appearance once charged,” said Pojie.
Mitchell, from Centurion in Gauteng, was reportedly stabbed on his 19th birthday.
Stellenbosch CPF’s Andre Pelser said Stellenbosch is a student town and a popular tourist destination, and both students and tourists are seen as soft targets by criminal elements.
“A large number of the 35 000 odd students frequent late-night venues near the CBD in the wee hours of the morning, as do tourists. Last orders at pubs are at 2am, so we see people on the street till as late as 4am. It is very difficult to police this situation, but we embarked on a crime-mapping initiative to identify hotspots to enable strategic interventions.
“Most of the serious crimes in our area take place in Kayamandi and Cloetesville, but there is a criminal element that preys on students and tourists in central Stellenbosch, both local and organised crime from outside Stellenbosch - the latter responsible for car thefts and attempted ATM scams.
The whole Stellenbosch community must become involved if we are to deal with this worsening situation.
The key to a better situation in future is vigilance, communication, collaboration in prevention and reaction also, critically, effective prosecution and incarceration of criminals,” said Pelser.
Anyone with information on the incident can anonymously contact Crime Stop on 0860010111, or SMS Crime Line on 32211.
Cape Times