SEVENTH SUSPECT: New accused joins alleged Nelson Mandela Bay kidnapping and murder syndicate
Moments before the bail proceedings began for a police official, alleged to be a member of a murder and robbery gang linked to the killing of Gqeberha prosecutor Tracy Brown, the State revealed that a seventh suspect had been linked to the syndicate and their laundry list of illicit operations.
Unathi Mayi appeared in Gqeberha Magistrates’ Court alongside Xolani Busakwe on Wednesday. He was subsequently remanded in custody until he returns with the remaining alleged members of the syndicate. This was Mayi's first court appearance after being transferred from Maletswai, where he was initially arrested in June 2025. The charge sheet reveals that Mayi was involved in a robbery where a vehicle was stolen in Maletswai on June 21, 2025.
Later, on July 23, 2025, the same vehicle was allegedly used in a kidnapping that took place in the same town. At that time, Mayi was the only individual arrested, but his name has since been added to the case in Gqeberha. On Wednesday, prosecutors revealed that the other three men present in the vehicle with Mayi were Simthembile Xungu, Thamsanqa Mthembu, and Buhle Mbini.
Mthembu, who is 33 years old, was apprehended in the Free State at the end of last month in connection with the murder of Gqeberha public prosecutor Tracy Brown. Xungu was arrested two months after Brown's assassination in July 2025, and Mbini was added to the matter in May 2026, believed to be the mastermind behind the prosecutor's shooting.
Mbini had been in custody on an illegal firearms charge. Together, the six men face a plethora of charges under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (Poca). These charges include kidnapping, extortion, human trafficking, robbery, murder, and money laundering. A charge sheet with over 40 counts is before the court, and all the accused are set to return to court together next week.
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