By the time Lieutenant Colonel Charl Kinnear - a key member of the police's Anti-Gang Unit - was murdered outside his home in Cape Town, the cellphones he carried had been illegally tracked thousands of times.
In this video, News24 investigative journalists Kyle Cowan and Jeff Wicks explain what they uncovered during this investigation into the king of pings, Zane Kilian.
The two also shed light on how many people Kilian pinged and how often. They also give insight into the technology used, and how easy it is to access these services.
Kilian is alleged to have used Location Based Services, technology whereby a cellphone number can be used to track the location of the phone, to stalk Kinnear and some 680 other people.
The one-time rugby star turned debt collector has been charged with the murder of detective Kinnear and will spend Christmas behind bars.
This after his bail application was postponed again due to an investigator in the case being unable to testify due to being in isolation due to possibly being in contact with someone positive for Covid-19.
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