Their remains were found in the Hennops River in Centurion, near Pretoria, in the province of Gauteng.

The car that they were travelling in has still not been found, but some parts of the vehicle were at the scene.

Two other bodies were also found, but police say the discovery is unrelated to the case of the officers.

Family members of the missing officers identified them at the Tshwane Mortuary in Gauteng.

The three were en route from Bloemfontein to Polokwane province, where they were posted under operation Vala Umgodi, an initiative to combat illegal mining and crimes across SA.  

--SABC--