VIP Protection Officers shoot and kill SANDF member

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A case against two VIP protection officers has been postponed to April 9th pending further investigations.

The 41 and 42 years, respectively, officers assigned to the Madibeng Local Municipality Mayor, Thabang Eugene Sohole and Michael Makampe, are facing charges of murder, defeating the ends of justice and operating a vehicle with blue identification lamps on an unauthorised vehicle on a public road.

It is said according to statement by the police that, on January 28th, 2026, the deceased husband and his wife, who are both members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), were travelling along Eskia Mphahlele Drive towards the R80 when they were flagged down by a dark BMW SUV fitted with flashing blue lights around 20:00pm.

The couple then turned onto the R80 towards Mabopane, where they were allegedly forced to pull over on the side of the road.It is alleged that Sohole and Makampe exited the BMW, one of them armed with an R5 rifle, and approached the couple’s vehicle.

The deceased was seated in the passenger seat, while his wife was the driver. The two allegedly questioned the couple about a missing rear number plate before returning to their vehicle.

Shortly after the engagement ended, the deceased exited his vehicle to ask for the accused identifications and asked if they had authority to do traffic stops. He was shot on the head as he was approaching their vehicle and died on the scene.

A few hours later, the two accused handed themselves over at the Hercules Police Station, claiming that they were victims of an attempted hijacking and that a shooting had occurred on the R80.

Despite State arguing their release on bail, they were both granted R 20 000 bail and ordered not to make any contact with the witnesses.