Pretoria- A Soshanguve couple accused of putting together an elaborate murder plot to fake his death, made a brief appearance in court on Thursday where their matter was postponed.
Sibusiso and Lerato Mahlangu appeared at the Soshanguve Magistrate’s Court, where they are facing charges of murder, fraud and defeating the administration of justice.
Their case was postponed to May 18 after the pair indicated they wanted to appoint an attorney to handle their bail application.
Their charges come after it was reported that Sibusiso had died after he burned to death in a house fire on January 6, 2022.
However, over a year later, Sibusiso was caught in April while driving a stolen vehicle.
The couple is accused of killing Sibusiso Sithebe, who was Lerato’s former boyfriend and father to her nine-year-old daughter.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Mavela Masondo said police in Hammanskraal received a tip-off about a suspected stolen motor vehicle.
He said police found Sibusiso driving a white VW Polo, which was stolen in Witbank.
Masondo confirmed that upon questioning Sibusiso, it was established that he allegedly killed and burned a person in Soshanguve in January 2022 before fleeing to Mpumalanga.
Sithebe was reported missing on January 1, 2022 after he and his new girlfriend attended their child's birthday celebration, according to Sithebe's sister, Linah.
After Sithebe failed to return from work in Hammanskraal, his girlfriend notified the family, and the family then filed a missing person’s case.
After a year had passed since Sithebe's death, his sister received a phone call from the police and was shown images of a burned-out house and her brother, who had been burned from the waist up.
The NPA spokesperson in Gauteng, Lumka Mahanjana, said Lerato fraudulently claimed that the burned person was her husband and reported his death at Home Affairs, obtaining a fictitious death certificate despite knowing that her husband was alive and deliberately burying the wrong person.
She also claimed insurance money.
IOL