Trial postponed for couple accused of killing ex to fake husband's death

A couple accused of killing a man to fake the death of Sibusiso Mahlangu are expected to spend a second winter in jail awaiting the finalisation of their trial as it was postponed to September.

Sibusiso Mahlangu and Lerato Mahlangu are charged with murder and fraud for allegedly killing Sibusiso Sithebe, Lerato’s former boyfriend and father of her child, in January 2022 and setting his body alight.

Lerato claimed that it was her husband who was killed, and a funeral was held, but Sibusiso was found driving a stolen car in Hammanskraal last year.

The trial was expected to resume on Wednesday at the Pretoria high court with testimony from a Capitec official to detail a transaction made by Lerato.

This is after family friend Chand Themba testified last week that Lerato had sent him R1,000 to go to Secunda to start a car wash business. Themba told the court that Lerato warned him that he should not be surprised by what he would see once he arrived.

According to Themba, upon his arrival in Secunda in February 2022, he was shocked to be fetched by Sibusiso, whom he thought had been dead for a year.

Lerato, however, denied making such a payment and claimed that she was a patient admitted at Vista psychiatric hospital in Centurion at the time.

The state requested bank statements from Capitec to trace the payment. Prosecutor Vusimuzi Tshabalala explained that they were still not obtained. This was despite a subpoena sent to the bank on Friday.

Tshabalala requested the matter to be postponed to September 30, which defence attorneys Nthabiseng Serabele for Sibusiso and Ledile Mphela for Lerato did not oppose.

Judge Papi Mosopa said he was reluctant to postpone the matter as the two accused have been in custody since their arrest last year as bail was not issued.

“In terms of the constitution, you are entitled to a speedy finalisation of the trial matter. Now your trial is delayed on the instance of the state because they cannot obtain those bank statements. Your counsel does not object to such a request and this is the last postponement with regard to the bank statements,” Mosopa said.

The two each face a count of murder, a count of conspiracy to commit murder and three counts of fraud for claiming more than R500,000 from Old Mutual in life cover claims.

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