Information from Crime Intelligence of the police assisted SAPS members from Acornhoek to rearrest Karabo Chiloane (29) today, Monday 29 August 2022. Chiloane is said to have been in hiding at Boelang Trust in the RDP houses near Acornhoek. This is after he escaped from lawful custody at the holding cells in the Emakhazeni Magistrate’s Court on Thursday, 25 August 2022.
According to the report, Chiloane was due to attend court on 25 August 2022, after being initially arrested in connection with murder which occurred at Machadodorp in November 2020, and he was also charged for various charges, including attempted murder, hijacking and business robbery which were carried out in Machadodorp as well.
Members of the police who were on duty indicated that inmates were reportedly being transported from Middelburg Prison to attend court at Emakhazeni Magistrate’s Court earlier around 09:30. When other inmates were being accompanied to the holding cell by the court orderlies, it is alleged that Chiloane somehow got inside a consultation room next to the holding cell without being noticed.
Later around 10:15 when the court orderlies went to fetch him so that he could appear in court, it was then realised that he had disappeared.
A case of escape from lawful custody was immediately opened with an additional charge of aiding an inmate to escape.
A padlock from one of the burglar gates was also missing subsequent to the realization of his escape. Police immediately assembled their resources in pursuit of Chiloane and the information gathered by the intelligence structure came in handy hence he was cornered on 29 August 2022, around 10:00.
The suspect is expected to soon appear at the Emakhazeni Magistrate’s Court facing the charge of escaping from lawful custody as well as the initial charges laid against him. Police are still investigating the circumstances surrounding his escape.
The Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela has thanked all roleplayers, including the police as well as the media houses and the general public for their support and commitment in ensuring that the suspect is swiftly brought to book. “We are glad that the suspect was re-arrested in a short space of time so that he can face the music. What he did was to add more charges to himself. If it happens that the suspect was somehow assisted by the officials then heads will definitely roll without any fear or favour,” said the General.
