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Wednesday, 11 June 2025
Concern for learner’s safe return mounts
Kidnapping case lingers TEBOHO SETENA
The frantic search for the kidnapped Kamogelo Baukudi (19), a learner of the Martie du Plessis School in Bloemfontein, continues. The school, based in Fichardt Park, takes in learners with cerebral palsy, physical disabilities, and learning disabilities. A task team is continuing with a full-scale investigation to ensure the learner is found and reunited with his parents, with the police actively seeking all possible clues. This includes investigating any potential suspects or witnesses. Thus far, the police have discovered the cellphones of both Kamogelo and his driver, Daniel Malebatso. According to the police, these items were
found disposed of under the bridge in Ferrera Road. Kamogelo’s disappearance has caused widespread concern in the community. What has added to that concern is the possible connection of a 42-year-old police sergeant in the brazen kidnapping of the learner on Thursday, 5 June, after school. The officer is set to reappear in the Bloemfontein Magistrates’ Court on Friday, 13 June, after a brief appearance in court on Monday, 9 June. He is facing charges of kidnapping and extortion. Initially, a case of kidnapping and impersonating a police officer was opened at the Bloemfontein Park Road Police Station on the day of the reported kidnapping. Mojalefa Senokoatsane, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Free State, said the state body remained committed to
ensuring that all individuals who violate the law, including those entrusted with upholding it, are held accountable through a fair and transparent legal process. Kamogelo was allegedly taken by two unknown men, one wearing a police uniform and the other a blue tracksuit. According to the police, this was shortly after his driver (Malebatso) had fetched him. The police reported that the driver, whilst driving along Vereeniging Drive in the Erlichpark Extension, purportedly heard a siren from behind their vehicle, and were pulled over by a white double cab Toyota Hilux GD-6. According to the information the driver provided to the police, the bakkie was fitted with blue lights on the grill and what looked like a police radio inside. Lt Col. Thabo Covane, provincial
police spokesperson, said the kidnappers reportedly used drugs as a ploy. He said the suspects confronted Malebatso and informed him that the Suzuki Ertiga he and Kamogelo were travelling in was suspected of delivering drugs. Covane said the two suspects spoke Sotho fluently and purportedly separated Kamogelo and the driver. Malebatso, instructed to drive to the Park Road Police Station while the suspects followed him, lost track of the suspects’ vehicle on the way. The head of the Department of Education in the Free State, Adv. Tsoarelo Malakoane, visited the school on Monday. Francois van Heerden, headmaster of Martie du Plessis, expressed his gratitude to the department for their support, as well as the investigative efforts by the SAPS.
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