SOUTH African police have launched an intensive investigation after the bodies of three missing police officers were found in the Hennops River, nearly a week after they disappeared while travelling between provinces.
According to a report by the BBC, the bodies of Constables Boipelo Senoge, aged 20, Cebekhulu Linda, 24, and 30-year-old Keamogetswe Buys were recovered by divers between Monday and Tuesday, around 70 kilometres from where they were last seen. Two other bodies, including that of a police administrative clerk, were also discovered at the scene, adding to the growing mystery surrounding the case.
The three officers, who were based in the Free State province, were reportedly travelling to Limpopo when they vanished on Wednesday last week. They were last seen at a petrol station near Johannesburg, driving a white VW Polo. Their phones and the vehicle’s tracking device went offline shortly afterwards, prompting fears of a hijacking or kidnapping.
Grief, questions and a nationwide search
The disappearance quickly gained national attention, with South Africans sharing prayers and appeals across social media. Police launched an intensive search effort spanning three provinces—Gauteng, Free State, and Limpopo.
Speaking at a press briefing on Tuesday, national police commissioner General Fannie Masemola confirmed that investigators had found vehicle parts believed to belong to the missing VW Polo. Nearby, a Renault Kangoo van was recovered on the banks of the Hennops River in Centurion. That vehicle was being driven by the unnamed police clerk whose body was also recovered.
‘Our teams spent sleepless nights combing the length and breadth of the provinces,’ Gen Masemola said. ‘Ultimately, five bodies were found by our divers in the Hennops River.’
While the fifth body has not yet been formally identified, police say it was decomposed and may take time to confirm. Authorities are still searching for the VW Polo in which the constables were travelling.
A shift in tone
On Sunday, Gen Masemola had taken a hard stance, warning that those responsible for the officers’ disappearance would be brought to justice. ‘We cannot have criminals undermine the authority of the state by kidnapping three police officers,’ he said. ‘Either you hand yourselves over, or we will fetch you ourselves.’
But following the recovery of the bodies, the commissioner struck a more cautious tone, acknowledging the uncertainty surrounding the circumstances of the deaths.
‘We don’t want to speculate at this stage what led to the discovery of these bodies in this river—whether it was an accident or not. Our investigation will reveal those aspects once we find their vehicle,’ he told reporters on Tuesday.
Community in mourning
The discovery of the bodies has devastated loved ones and stunned the public. Family members and community supporters gathered along the riverbanks holding candles in memory of the officers, whose photos had circulated widely during the six-day search.
One widely shared image shows Keamogetswe Buys in a white top, smiling in a selfie, while another shows Cebekhulu Linda standing beside a mirror in a white shirt and grey trousers.
The tragic end to the search has ignited a fresh wave of grief—and unease. With more questions than answers, many South Africans are demanding clarity on how three trained law enforcement officers could vanish so completely, and end up dead in a river far from where they were last seen.
Investigation continues
Police have said the next phase of the investigation will focus on piecing together the officers’ final movements, recovering the missing vehicle, and establishing whether foul play was involved.
So far, no arrests have been made and no definitive cause of death has been released.
‘We owe it to these officers, their families, and the country to uncover the truth,’ said Gen Masemola. ‘The search may have ended, but the work is far from over.’
