Caught via a stolen cell phone
Taki was identified and arrested after investigators traced a victim's still-active cell phone to his sister-in-law, who revealed his name and location.
Snapshot · Crime, Conspiracy, Cults and Murder
Ep. 115 | The Brutal Sugarcane Serial Killer
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Jun 17, 2026
Where this was said
The Survivor, the Composite Sketch, and the Cell Phone Trail
At 19:45 · chapter starts 19:35
The break the investigation needed came from two directions at once. First, Dudu Ntethe walked into a police station and told detectives she had almost become a victim herself — she had been sitting next to the man on the minibus bound for Chayamoya, listened to his pitch about work, and at the last moment decided not to follow him off the bus. Her description produced a composite sketch: for the first time, the task team had a face. But the evidence that truly broke the case wasn't a face — it was a phone. Cell phone analysts working with the task team traced devices belonging to the missing women, and one phone registered to victim Nosisa Nosozo was still active. The signal led them to a woman named Dunisoa Deniso in the town of Stanger, north of Durban. She said the phone had come from her brother-in-law. His name was Tozamile Taki. From Stanger, the chain led to Taki's wife Vusile in Port St. Johns, and through her, detectives got an address.
The Stolen Phone That Led Police to Taki's Door
Investigators traced a victim's still-active phone through Taki's sister-in-law to Taki himself. The signal gave them an address. At 2am on September 24, 2007, they moved in and found a house full of dead women's belongings.
The House Full of Evidence
Inside Taki's home, investigators found a catalog of the missing women's lives: cell phones, clothing, bank cards, store cards, child support grant cards. Nothing was hidden. It was just woven into the household like it belonged.
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