Man taken in for questioning for Gauteng MPL's murder, Bheki Cele says

• Police have taken a man in for questioning in connection the murder of Gauteng MPL Mapiti Matsena.
• Matsena was stabbed to death by an intruder on Wednesday night at his house in Doornpoort, Pretoria.
• Police Minister Bheki Cele said the person they are looking for is a criminal, whether the motive was "political" or "religious".

A man has been taken in for questioning in connection with the murder of Gauteng MPL Mapiti Matsena who was killed in his home on Wednesday night.

Police Minister Bheki Cele revealed the development on Friday during a visit to Matsena's home.

READ | 'Cruel and terrible' murder: Gauteng ANC urge cops to find MPL Mapiti Matsena's killer

Cele said they believed that the man could assist the police with their investigations.

He said nothing had been stolen during the incident.

Cele said thorough investigations were continuing and he was comfortable that work was being done.

"If investigations lead the police to other people, we are fine with that. Investigations must tell us a story. A story of a political hit sometimes comes as a diversion and we could end up chasing ghosts," he said in reference to claims of assassinations when politicians are killed.

"At the present moment we are looking for a criminal. Whether he is a political criminal or religious criminal, the fact is somebody here has been killed and a person that kills another person is a criminal and that is what we are looking for," Cele added.

Cele said police investigations were on the right track and they didn’t want to jeopardise their work.

"As the South African police, we have picked up one person. That person will be further investigated and questioned by the police. We believe that we are very close to the correct person.

"We hope he will tell us why and what happened. I hope the family wants to hear why it happened. We are currently under stress because we have the other enemy that has attacked the nation and Gauteng is under stress from Covid-19," Cele said.

READ | Police chief orders Gauteng investigation unit, crime intelligence to catch ANC MPL's killer

Cele added that it was important for the police not forget their core duty of fighting and preventing crime in the country.

"Regarding the person that has been picked up for questioning, we believe that police are not really far from the truth that he will tell us what is the story. We send our condolences to the family.

"Matsena was colleague that we have worked with especially from the side of security.  He was responsible for security matters in Gauteng. We are really feeling the pressure and ours is not to cry, but to find answers. We are sure we are very close to the answer," said Cele.

Matsena was the chairperson of the portfolio committee for Community Safety in Gauteng.