Honouring the fallen: Police constables to receive official funerals after Hennops River tragedy
Three SAPS constables Boipelo Senoge, Cebekhulu Linda, Keamogetswe Buys were travelling in a Volkswagen Polo hatchback from Bloemfontein to their area of deployment in Limpopo when they went missing.
Image: SAPS
The three Free State police constables whose bodies were recovered from the Hennops River in Centurion, Gauteng, will be honoured with official police funerals.
The victims — Keamogetswe Buys, 30, Boipelo Senoge, 20, and Cebekhulu Linda, 24 — were reported missing for over five days before their bodies were tragically recovered.
They were last seen on Thursday morning, April 24, 2025, at a petrol station near the Grasmere Toll Plaza in a white Volkswagen Polo hatchback en route to Limpopo from the Free State.
A collective memorial service will be held on Tuesday, May 6, with individual funeral services planned for each constable.
Following their disappearance, SAPS launched a large-scale search operation involving police divers, drones, and rescue teams. The operation focused on the N1 highway, nearby waterways, and the Hennops River, where their bodies were later discovered.
The vehicle was retrieved on Thursday, confirming it was the same VW Polo the officers had been travelling in.
National police commissioner, General Fannie Masemola said it looks like the VW Polo capsized first, before it impacted on the road barrier on the N1, and the car eventually went into the water.
Image: FILE/SAPS
Following the recovery of the white VW Polo from the Hennops River, National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola addressed the media, stating that no foul play is suspected in the deaths of the three missing Free State police constables.
“We are going to undertake an investigation of the car so that we come to a conclusion as to what exactly happened, but from the look of eyes, when you see … the car looks like it capsized first before it impacted on the wall, in the barrier on the side, and then it eventually went into the water,” said Masemola.
He said police are investigating a case of culpable homicide.
“At this stage, it looks like an accident, until we finalise and the forensics have done their thorough investigation on the car. Let the public be assured that this is what we have for now,” Masemola told reporters.
“For now, there is nothing sinister that we physically have seen in terms of, let’s say, being shot, bullets, nothing. But of course, there are injuries. Doctors will tell us exactly when they finalise their autopsies.”
Funeral arrangements:
Constable Boipelo Senoge
- Date: Thursday, May 8, 2025.
- Time: 8am to 11am
- Venue: St Peter Anglican Church, Rocklands, Mangaung
- Cemetery: South Park Cemetery
Constable Cebekhulu Linda
- Date: Friday, May 9, 2025.
- Time: 8am to 11am
- Venue: (to be confirmed)
- Cemetery: Magengenene; Mangaung
Constable Keamogetswe Buys
- Date: Saturday, May 10, 2025.
- Time: 8am to 11am
- Venue: (to be confirmed)
- Cemetery: Thaba Nchu
sinenhlanhla.masilela@iol.co.za
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