I froze when I saw my 'dead brother' alive, says sister of Soshanguve man alleged to have died in house fire

The sister of the man who allegedly faked his death for insurance payouts has testified how she froze when she saw her brother was alive and detained at Themba police station.

Sibusiso Mahlangu, 33, and his wife Lerato Mahlangu, 32, returned to the Pretoria high court on Monday on charges of murder and three counts of fraud.

The two are accused of killing Lerato’s ex-boyfriend and father of her child in January 2022 and used his corpse to fake the death of Sibusiso.

Sibusiso was caught at a roadblock in Hammanskraal in April last year when police discovered that he was driving a stolen car.

This is when his sister, Elizabeth Mahlangu, heard the news that her brother was still alive and was held at a police station.

For the past year the family had been grieving the loss of Sibusiso, who they thought died in a house fire in Soshanguve in January 2022.

When Elizabeth arrived at the scene that day, she found law enforcement at the house which had caught fire, while Lerato was at the back of the house. Lerato indicated that her husband, Sibusiso, burnt in the fire.

“When we got to the house in Block HH, we found it was burnt and they had already put out the fire. I found the police and asked what happened and they said Lerato was at the back of the house. I saw her and went to her and asked what was going on. She told me Sibusiso was in the house. I understood that as Sibusiso died,” she said.

“We waited for paramedics and they confirmed that Sibusiso died. The forensic officials arrived as well and they took us out of the yard because they wanted to take photos.”

However, the state heard how Sibusiso admitted to killing Lerato’s ex-boyfriend after he allegedly broke into their home through a window.

Testimony by investigating officer Capt Phenuel Molefe, who testified on the statement taken down when he interviewed Sibusiso, revealed that Sibusiso then doused the body with petrol.

“He informed me that on January 7 2022 he arrived at an RDP house in Soshanguve and said it was at night and he was alone. He explained that he was under the influence of liquor and came from a family party. While sitting at home, someone intruded and entered the house and attacked him.,” Molefe said

“He further said he fought with that black male and he died, and took petrol and poured it on that person and burned him.”

This burnt body is allegedly the one that was used to make the family believe that Sibusiso died in the fire.

A year later, Lerato called Sibusiso’s mother to let her know that her son was alive and arrested, Elizabeth testified.

Elizabeth said she tried to speak to Lerato to understand the bizarre statement she made.

“When I asked her what was happening, about what she said to my mother, that my brother was alive, she said Sibusiso is alive and has been arrested and detained in Hammanskraal and that she needs money to release him from jail,” she said.

When she asked Lerato for a contact number at the police station, Lerato allegedly hung up. Elizabeth said she sourced the phone numbers of the police station from the internet. She gave the officers her brother's name and surname to verify if indeed he was alive and detained. 

“They confirmed that indeed they have detained that person with the same name and surname.”

To confirm if indeed her dead brother was still alive, she made her way to the police station where officers escorted her to the holding cells.

Elizabeth said she immediately froze when she saw her brother.

“When he arrived, I couldn’t believe it. When Sibusiso came out from the cells, I don’t know … I can’t describe it because I froze. I got a feeling I cannot explain at that time — but I froze, because I know we buried this person.

“I asked one question: who did we bury? I asked him three times and he kept saying he will explain when he gets out of there.

“I went home and called Lerato. I asked her to please tell me the truth – if she knew that Sibusiso is alive. She said she didn’t know.

“I asked her how come Sibusiso contacted her since she changed her numbers and it’s not the same number she uses today. She said she doesn’t know. I dropped the phone and didn’t contact her again.”

The trial continues.