Cape Town – Questions are being asked about how a teenager, believed to be the same person convicted of the murder of 28-year-old Suritha Alting, was found robbing a home in Table View this month, less than two years after his sentencing.
Dave Walters, a 50-year-old father from Table View, says he was shocked to learn from investigators that the man who robbed him of his cellphone two weeks ago was, in fact, a "killer who slipped through the cracks".
Walters explains that Xolani du Preez and an accomplice were apprehended on 17 April after they entered his home. "I was at home playing Call of Duty and had left the gate open as I knew my son would probably leave around midnight to meet up with his girlfriend," he says. "I saw two males and initially thought they were my son’s friends, but then I saw they put their fingers on their lips and said shhh, I knew it was a break-in. The one grabbed my cellphone and they fled running in opposite directions."
Walters and his son gave chase, tracking the cellphone’s location while simultaneously alerting the police. They first arrested the accomplice, who revealed that he did not have the phone. The hunt for Du Preez continued, and police arrived on the scene along Blaauwberg Road, where the Oppo cellphone was recovered.
"I insisted on opening a criminal case and was not going to leave it like that," Walters adds, determined to see justice served.
Police spokesperson Sergeant Wesley Twigg confirmed the arrest, stating: "Table View police registered a house robbery case for investigation on Thursday, 17 April 2025, in Hoorn Street, Table View. The suspects fled the scene with a cellular telephone worth R10 000. We can confirm that two males age 19 and 22 were arrested on Friday, 18 April 2025, and appeared in the Cape Town Magistrates Court."
Several days later, Walters returned to the Table View police station to thank the officers for their work. It was then that detectives revealed the identity of the suspect, leaving Walters stunned. "They told me that he is the guy who was convicted of killing the woman in Richwood," he says. "According to that sentence, he was supposed to serve two years and 245 days at a juvenile facility and later eight years at an adult correctional facility. But somehow the killer just slipped through the cracks.”
The case Walters is referring to is believed to be that of Suritha Alting, who was tragically murdered in Richwood. In November 2023, Xolani du Preez, then 16 years old, was sentenced in the Parow Regional Court to two years and 245 days in a child youth care facility, followed by eight years’ imprisonment. This sentence came after he pleaded guilty to Alting’s murder, admitting that he robbed and stabbed her as she returned home from a restaurant. Du Preez pleaded guilty to murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances under the Child Justice Act.
The revelation that Du Preez may have been released early has sparked outrage and raised serious questions about the effectiveness of the justice system. If Walters' account is accurate, it suggests a significant failure in the monitoring and enforcement of Du Preez's sentence.
However, Department of Correctional Services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo could not confirm whether the suspect is indeed the same Xolani du Preez, referring all questions to the NPA and the Department of Justice. Nxumalo stated that Du Preez appears as a remand detainee and not a sentenced detainee on their systems, but could not clarify if Du Preez was taken into custody after being convicted and sentenced.
The lack of clarity from the Department of Correctional Services further fuels the confusion and concern surrounding this case. It remains unclear whether Du Preez was ever taken into custody after his conviction, and if so, how he was able to be released and allegedly commit another crime.
According to text messages received on Walters’ phone, Du Preez is scheduled to return to court on 23 May.
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