Three South African nationals have been arraigned before a Pretoria court on charges of murder and robbery following the brutal killing of a 22-year-old Nigerian e-hailing driver, Isaac Satlat, whose death sparked widespread public fury after dashcam footage of the fatal attack circulated across social media platforms.
The accused, Dikeledi Mphela, 24; Goitsione Machidi, 25; and McClaren Mushwana, 30, made a brief appearance in court on Monday, during which they withdrew their applications for bail.
A fourth suspect has since surrendered voluntarily to authorities and is expected to face arraignment this week.
Satlat, a Nigerian national residing in South Africa, was working as a driver for the ride-hailing platform, Bolt, when he was allegedly ambushed by the group last Wednesday.
Prosecutors told the court that the suspects coordinated the attack using a phone number registered to none of them, raising suspicions of premeditation.
According to investigators, two of the accused boarded Satlat’s vehicle as passengers while the remaining two trailed the car in a separate vehicle.
The group subsequently forced the driver to pull over, whereupon he was strangled, stripped of his mobile phone, and his vehicle stolen.
The car was later recovered by police.
The chilling dashcam footage, now viral online, captures a violent struggle inside the vehicle, with one passenger visibly restraining and choking the driver until he lost consciousness, images that have since drawn widespread condemnation from Nigerians and the international community alike.
The Spokesperson of the National Prosecuting Authority, Lumka Mahanjana, confirmed that the trio faces charges of both murder and robbery, with further proceedings scheduled for the following Monday.
Satlat’s family, through spokesperson Solomon Ashoms, disclosed that the victim’s father has been left physically and emotionally devastated by the tragedy, with his health declining sharply since news of the killing broke.
The family maintained that the attack was not driven by xenophobic sentiment, even as concerns persist over targeted violence against foreign nationals in South Africa.
The killing has reopened a festering wound over the safety of e-hailing drivers in South Africa, a country grappling with surging crime rates and a troubling pattern of attacks on ride-hailing operators.
The E-hailing Partners Council described the incident as part of a disturbing and recurring pattern, demanding that platforms such as Bolt and Uber implement more rigorous passenger verification and enhanced safety mechanisms.
Tensions boiled over on Monday as drivers and political groups converged outside the courthouse in a solidarity protest, pressing the government for decisive action.
One driver, speaking to Newzroom Afrika, called for the establishment of a dedicated task force to address the epidemic of attacks on operators and urged the government to provide compensation to families of drivers killed in the line of duty.
Satlat’s death has reignited a national conversation on the vulnerability of gig economy workers and the urgent need for structural reforms to protect those who navigate South Africa’s streets for a living.
