Six arrested in connection with the murder of South African player Luke Fleurs

The South African police service (SAPC) said Wednesday (Apr.10) that 6 suspects in the killing of footballer and Olympian Luke Fleurs were arrested and will appear in court.

The 24-year-old defender was shot while waiting to be attended to at a petrol station in the Honeydew suburb in Johannesburg on April 3rd.

The breakthrough was announced in a statement by the police. According to the press release, the team appointed by the Gauteng Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Tommy Mthombeni to trace and arrest the suspects who allegedly hijacked and killled the Kaizer Chiefs player recovered Fleur's car and arrested 6 people.

The suspects were traced and arrested in Slovoville, Soweto, in the early hours of Wednesday while the vehicle that was already stripped was recovered on Monday.

Police believe that the suspects are part of a syndicate that is responsible for car hijacking in Gauteng, and the search for more suspects is continuing.

The team that is led by Gauteng Deputy Provincial Commissioner Crime Detection Major General Mbuso Khumalo consists of tracking team, SAPS Provincial Investigation Unit, SAPS National Crime Intelligence,

SAPS Drone Unit, Honeydew Detectives, Honeydew Crime Intelligence, CAP Special Operations and Fidelity Specialized Services.

The arrested suspects are expected to appear Roodepoort Magistrate's Court on Friday, 12 April 2024.

Violent crime in South Africa has spiked over the past decade after a period when it decreased substantially.

There were 27,494 murders in South Africa in the year to February 2023, compared with 16,213 in 2012-2013. South Africa’s homicide rate in 2022-2023 was 45 per 100,000 people, compared with a rate of 6.3 in the United States and around 1 in most European countries.