More witnesses are expected to take the stand in the trial of Sibusiso and Lerato Mahlangu, a Soshanguve couple accused of murdering Lerato’s ex-boyfriend and father of her child, Sibusiso Sithebe, in 2022.
The state alleges that the deceased was invited to the couple’s Block HH home, where he was allegedly attacked by the husband. The pair then allegedly made it seem as though Mahlangu had died in a house fire and not Sithebe, to claim a R500 000 life insurance cover.
However, police uncovered Mahlangu’s identity after he was arrested at a roadblock while driving a stolen vehicle in Hammanskraal in April last year.
Family members and police are among the state witnesses.
The trial, set down for three weeks, has entered its second week with state witness Captain Phanuel Molefe taking the stand.
On Monday, Molefe testified that he managed to get a verbal confession from Sibusiso Mahlangu while he was detained at the Temba police station.
Molefe claimed that a crying Mahlangu told him he killed and doused Sithebe with petrol before setting him alight after entering his house through a window. Mahlangu, however, denied this.
His sister, Elizabeth Mahlangu, told the court of the family’s shock when they learned he was alive.
They were unable to identify the body after the fire because they were told that his wife, Lerato, had already done so. More witnesses are expected to be called, including police, family and neighbours.
Soshanguve community marches against violent crimes, illegal guns:
