On Tuesday, North West police spokesperson, Adelé Myburgh, informed the media that DNA tests had confirmed that it indeed was the 24-year-old Mbatha’s body that was found in his torched Hyundai i20 at a soccer field in Klipgat in June 2021. An anonymous NWU employee who worked alongside Mbatha at the institution’s Mahikeng campus, says Mbatha had such an energy and zest for life, adding that it remains unbelievable that he is gone.

Mond Motadi says on Facebook that the results have left him in a state. “To think we used to text each other talking about how we were going to take over this entertainment industry, the plans we had for the queer community, my friend,” says Motadi.

OFM News previously reported that preliminary investigations by police into the discovery of Mbatha’s body in the torched vehicle led to the apprehension of four male suspects between the ages of 19 and 22 years old. Local police’s initial probe led them to a “house in the Phutha Section, at Klipgat, on Monday 21 June 2021. The house was searched and in one of the bedrooms, the team found bloodstains on the floor, under and on top of a bed, as well as on the carpet. Furthermore, an axe suspected to have been used during the commission of this crime, was found on top of the roof of the house,” says the North West police spokesperson.

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The arrested group include Arthur Khoza, Thato Masetla, Junior Modise, and Mahlatsi Nkuna. Myburgh says the group will reappear before the Ga-Rankuwa Magistrate's Court on Tuesday 18 January 2022 on a charge of murder. It has previously been reported by the Mbatha family that three of the suspects were granted bail of R500 on 13 August 2021, with the fourth remaining behind bars after abandoning bail.

Mbatha’s family has also released their own statement to the DNA results, revealing that they will now proceed with making arrangements to bury the 24-year-old.

OFM News