A 42-year-old police sergeant, Nyiko Nyathi, has been arrested in connection with the kidnapping and murder of her husband, Lawrence Alba Mashego, and his female friend, Victoria Lebyane, in Mpumalanga, South Africa.
Nyathi handed herself over to authorities at the Bushbuckridge police station and appeared before the Bushbuckridge Magistrate’s Court on Monday, March 10, 2025, facing murder charges.
According to Brigadier Donald Mdhluli, Mpumalanga provincial police spokesperson, Mashego was attacked by armed men at his home in February 2024, robbed of his vehicles, and kidnapped.
The suspects then used the vehicles to travel to another location, where they found Lebyane with Mashego’s bank cards. She was robbed of cash and bank cards, and both Mashego and Lebyane were murdered.
The police investigated the incident, arresting four suspects, one of whom pleaded guilty and received a 77-year prison sentence. Further investigation implicated Nyathi in the murders, leading to her arrest. The case was postponed to Wednesday for a formal bail application.
