News24 | Official funerals to be held for three officers whose bodies were found in Hennops River

Constables Boipelo Senoge, Cebekhulu Linda and Keamogetswe Buys bodies were discovered in the Hennops River. (Supplied by family/ Supplied by SAPS)

• Constables Senoge, Linda and Buys will receive official funerals in their hometowns, with a memorial service in Bloemfontein next week.
• The officers went missing en route from Bloemfontein to Limpopo, before their vehicle was discovered in the Hennops River.
• Authorities are conducting a detailed forensic analysis of the vehicle to determine the cause of the accident.

The three police officers whose bodies were recovered from the Hennops River this week will be honoured with official funerals.

Constable Boipelo Senoge, 24, Constable Cebekhulu Linda, 24, and Constable Keamogetswe Buys, 30, went missing while travelling from Bloemfontein to Limpopo on an assignment.

They will be laid to rest in their hometowns of Bloemfontein and Thaba Nchu between 8 and 10 May.

Police spokesperson Brigadier Motantsi Makhele said the decision to honour the officers was taken after a meeting between the deceased's families, Free State Premier Maqueen Letsoha-Mathae, and the provincial commissioner, Lieutenant-General Baile Motswenyane.

He said a memorial service for the late constables would be held at Bloemfontein on Tuesday.

"The South African Police Service and the Free State provincial government extend deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the fallen members. Their passing touched the country deep, but their dedication and contribution will never be forgotten," Makhele added.

The three officers had been assigned to a Vala Umgodi operation aimed at tackling illegal mining in various hotspots nationally, when they went missing last Wednesday.

Netwerk24 reported on Thursday that the vehicle had ploughed through a safety barrier and ended up in the river.

After an intensive search covering the length and breadth of Free State, Gauteng and Limpopo, their bodies were discovered in the river on Monday and Tuesday.

READ | UPDATE: Vehicle found in Hennops River that of police officers found dead, SAPS confirms

Authorities also discovered the body of an unidentified man and that of a SAPS employee attached to the Lyttleton police station along the same stretch of water.

Police stressed that investigations were ongoing, and that cause of death had not yet been determined.

Addressing the media on Thursday at the scene of the discovery, national police commissioner General Fannie Masemola said the car would be analysed to determine what had happened.

"We have no rules to stick to when you carry out a forensic investigation. They're going to go through the car, look thoroughly at the car, and the fact that I'm saying it looks like it capsized [overturned] first," he said.

"Remember, I'm not an expert, is what I'm seeing. But they will be able to determine, because they are engineers, they are qualified people. They will thoroughly investigate the car, and they will be able to tell us exactly what happened to the car."

At the time of their deaths, Senoge was just days away from celebrating her 25th birthday.

Her family told News24 she had dreamed of hiring a tent, bringing her loved ones together, and creating cherished memories to mark the occasion.

Linda – who was Senoge's boyfriend – had, meanwhile, long been planning to marry his love and was getting ready to pay lobola.

Buys, too, had been preparing to marry her long-time partner and the father of her 3-year-old son in August.