Confession sinks couple for murder of wife’s ex-lover

Court rules circumstantial evidence enough to convict

A confession statement that a Soshanguve man made to the police and later denied in court finally sunk him – leading to him and his wife being found guilty of the murder of the wife’s ex-boyfriend for insurance money.

While the court ruled there was no direct evidence linking Sibusiso Mahlangu and his wife Lerato to the murder of her ex-boyfriend Sibusiso Sithebe, the judge found the confession Mahlangu made about the crime, as well as circumstantial evidence the state gathered against the two, were enough to convict them.

Handing down judgment at the Pretoria high court on Tuesday, judge Mokhine Mosopa said the state had proved beyond reasonable doubt the couple murdered Sithebe, whose charred remains were found in their house.

“There is no direct evidence linking the two, [and] therefore the state relied on circumstantial evidence to prove their case beyond reasonable doubt. Accused one [Mahlangu] was linked to the offence through [confession] statements that he made to the police, which were ruled admissible,” said the judge.

After being bust driving a stolen car in Hammanskraal last year, police were about to profile Mahlangu when he confessed to murdering a man at his house on January 1 2022. He told police he was at the home he shares with Lerato, enjoying late night drinks, when a man barged inside.

It is strange that she arrived [from Mpumalanga] at her house [during the fire] alone at 1am, before Mrs Mahlangu [her mother-in-law] who was in Soshanguve, and not only that but she was dropped from a distance [from the house].Judge Mokhine Mosopa

He said the man started swearing at him and they started fighting. “I overpowered him and pushed him against the wall, he collapsed. I took the body to the bed and burnt the bed using petrol, and when the fire started, I left the house,” reads the confession.

During the trial, however, Lerato had insisted that at the time that a body was found in her charred house, she was in Mpumalanga.

While Mahlangu had not stated in the confession who he fought with in the house, nor mention where Lerato was at the time, the judge found she and Mahlangu had conspired to kill Sithebe.

“It is strange that she arrived [from Mpumalanga] at her house [during the fire] alone at 1am, before Mrs Mahlangu [her mother-in-law] who was in Soshanguve, and not only that but she was dropped from a distance [from the house]. 

“Before waiting to verify the identification of the person in the house, she said it was her husband. I also fail to understand how Lerato was able to identify that the ring belonged to him [Sibusiso] while she claimed it was dark,” said Masopa.

Despite Mrs Mahlangu’s concern about the deceased not matching her son, Lerato insisted that the dead person was indeed her husband Sibusiso..

Mosopa also found the duo guilty of conspiring to kill Sithebe and also for claiming insurance money while knowing that the person who had died was not Mahlangu.

In January 2022, Sithebe was lured to Mahlangu's marital home where he was murdered. Sithebe had told his partner he was going to fetch a taxi from a man who had promised him a job.

Lerato then identified the partially burned body as that of Mahlangu and later claimed insurance money which paid over R500,000.

Mosopa said the body of the deceased was not burned to the point that it couldn't be identified  “She [Lerato] falsely identified the body as of accused number one and claimed insurance money. [Lerato] conspired with accused 1 [Mahlangu] and they both benefitted from insurance money."

The judge said another unchallenged evidence was that a week wouldn’t pass without Mahlangu calling his mother, but after he faked his death and went into hiding,  he never called her.

“When he was arrested, he had been in Hammanskraal for two weeks, but no attempt was made to reach his mother or visit their place.”

Sithebe was found wearing boxer shorts and a wedding ring that belonged to Mahlangu.

A forensic report revealed that Sithebe was alive when the fire started.

Sithebe’s family have welcomed the judgment. “It has been the hardest time of our lives; the fact that he was buried without our knowledge... We had clashes among ourselves because we thought we were not there for him and if we had we wouldn’t be here. I’m happy with the judgment, and I hope they rot in jail,” said Sithebe’s younger brother Xolani.

The matter was postponed to Friday to start with the sentencing proceedings.

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