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Johannesburg - Police say the owner of the car that was allegedly used to commit the murder of Eskom employee Thembisile Yende has since died after he was questioned by police.
Captain Johannes Ramphora said police are investigating whether Yende was murdered elsewhere and her body dumped at the Eskom substation in Springs where she worked.
Ramphora told News24 the man owned the white BMW that was allegedly used in the crime.
"We suspect that he was a friend of [David] Ngwenya and that they used the BMW to commit the murder. He died of natural causes," Ramphora said.
Ramphora could not confirm whether Ngwenya was an Eskom employee.
Head injuries
Ngwenya appeared in court on Monday. He is charged with premeditated murder.
The 43-year-old was arrested in Carletonville last week Thursday, June 15.
The 29-year-old's body was found in her office after Eskom workers noticed a bad smell. She was reported missing on May 17. Yende had worked for Eskom since December 2015.
A post mortem has shown that Yende had sustained head injuries and had bruises on her neck before she died.
The National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa's (Numsa) Phakamile Hlubi said they conducted a search in their system under the name of David Ngwenya and found that there was a Ngwenya employed by Eskom.
"We are not confirming that he was an employee at Eskom. We are saying if it is the same David Ngwenya who was arrested, then he is a senior supervisor at Eskom, but Eskom needs to confirm that," Hlubi said.
Hlubi said Ngwenya was not a member at Numsa.
Eskom national spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe said the matter was in the capable hands of the police and the courts.
"We are not going to say anything on the matter until police are done with their investigations," Phasiwe said.
