Bank official to testify in trial of a couple accused of murder

A trial of a woman who together with her husband allegedly killed her ex-boyfriend, passed off his charred remains as the spouse's and claimed half a million in insurance payout resumes in the Pretoria high court today.

Sibusiso Mahlangu and Lerato Mahlangu are accused of killing Sibusiso Sithebe, Lerato’s former boyfriend and father of their child, in January 2022 in their marital home in Soshanguve and then burnt the body.

Lerato allegedly passed off Sithebe’s body as her husband’s and received an insurance payout.

The state is expected to call a bank official to give details on transactions that could have been made, allegedly by Lerato.

However, the focus of the evidence is expected to be on the R1,000 she allegedly sent to a previous state witness, Chand Themba.

Your version is not true and you are told what to say.Lerato’ Mahlangu's lawyer, Ledile Mphela

In his evidence, Themba had testified that he had just completed his matric when Lerato told him to go to Mpumalanga, where he would start a car wash business.

He said during his trip, he received a call from Lerato telling him not to be shocked by what he would see when he got there.

Themba testified that he saw the supposed dead Sibusiso when he got to Mpumalanga and that it was what Lerato had meant when he said he shouldn't be shocked by what he sees when he arrives there.

The evidence from the bank official is expected to prove that Lerato indeed sent Themba money to go to Mpumalanga where he met a man he had just “buried” a month ago.

However, Lerato’s lawyer, Ledile Mphela, said Themba’s testimony was fabricated.

“My client will tell this court that at that time she was at Vista Clinic, a psychiatric hospital, and if she wanted to meet you, she would have said you should come to the hospital not [go to] Secunda. Your version is not true and you are told what to say because you want to benefit from their house once they are convicted,” said Mphela at the time.

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