The Silver Polo and the School Route: A Community’s Hunt for Answers

You know that morning walk. The one where the dust kicks up on the rural road, the schoolbag feels heavy, and your mind is on the day ahead. It’s a universal ritual, a moment of quiet before the school bell rings. But for two girls in the Mecklenburg area of Sekhukhune, that ordinary walk turned into a nightmareone that, police say, was inflicted by the same man, in the same silver Volkswagen Polo, two years apart.

The details are chillingly familiar. A car pulls up. A firearm is pointed. A child is forced inside. The destination is always secluded bushes. The violation, unspeakable. In October 2022, a 17-year-old girl endured this. This past November, a 12-year-old child suffered the same fate. The gap between the incidents haunts the community: Was he hiding? Was he waiting? Or was he simply confident he wouldn’t be caught?

[WANTED RAPE SUSPECT INVOLVING TWO MINOR VICTIMS]

The police are appealing for assistance in tracing and apprehending Bonginkosi Kgopotso Mazibuko, a 34-year-old male who is wanted in connection with ongoing investigations into two separate rape cases involving minor victims.… pic.twitter.com/lb0kHA1Q3O

Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (@CrimeWatch_RSA) January 21, 2026

A Pattern That Pierces a Community’s Trust

Police have now connected the dots. Colonel Malesela Ledwaba confirms that forensic DNA analysis has positively linked a single suspect to both attacks. The man they are looking for is Bonginkosi Kgopotso Mazibuko, 34, believed to be residing in Mkhuhlu, Mpumalanga. The description of his methodthe silver VW Polo, the firearm, the targeting of girls on their way to schoolhas sent a specific and terrifying warning through every village in the district.

On social media, especially in local community groups and on platforms like Facebook, the reaction has moved from fear to furious determination. The shared photos of Mazibuko are circulating with urgent captions: “HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MAN?” The conversation isn’t just about shock; it’s about the painful context of school route safety in rural areas, where long, isolated walks are a daily reality for many children. Parents are asking aloud: “How many more mornings do we live in fear?”

The Long Shadow Between Incident and Arrest

The two-year gap between the first and second reported attack raises difficult questions. It highlights the grueling, often slow-paced nature of police investigations reliant on forensic evidence, especially when a suspect is nomadic or deliberately elusive. The fact that the second incident occurred after this lengthy period suggests a brazenness that has intensified the public’s demand for a swift arrest.

This isn’t just a police docket; it’s a test of community-police collaboration. The investigating officer, Sergeant Letsatsi Mojalefa, has publicly put his cellphone number (076 140 5379) out there, a direct plea for tips. It’s a signal that old-fashioned community intelligencea neighbor’s suspicion, a sighting at a spaza shop, a car parked oddlymight be the key.

What Happens Now?

A massive manhunt is underway. But beyond the search for Mazibuko, this case has ripped open a wider conversation in Sekhukhune and beyond. It’s about the vulnerability of children in spaces we assume are safe. It’s about how a community heals when its trust is violated in such a predatory, patterned way.

The police plea is clear: if you know something, say something. Contact Sergeant Mojalefa, call Crime Stop at 08600 10111, or use the MySAPS App. Your anonymous tip could be the one that ends this hunt.

For the families affected, and for every parent who now watches their child walk to school with a tighter knot in their stomach, the hope is that justice is not just a concept, but a consequence. And that the silver Polo will be found, not on another isolated road, but in the custody of those working to end this nightmare.

{Source: IOL}

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