Adv Zandile Mshololo accused a state witness in a R1.2m insurance murder case of fabricating evidence against her client, Hope Mahatta, who is alleged to be the hitman.
Mahatta, Mathabo Motsieloa and Motsumi Tabane are on trial in the Pretoria high court for murder and fraud. A fourth unnamed suspect has not yet been arrested.
Mshololo told the court on Tuesday that a witness, known as Miss Ntai, could not have identified Mahatta as she was “frightened and shocked” when the murder happened. Ntai, a section 204 witness, had earlier told the court that she and Motsieloa, her aunt, lured their cousin, Gift Mokati, from Lesotho to their home in Brits, North West, and orchestrated his death to claim the insurance payout.
Ntai pleaded guilty in June last year to her involvement in the murder and was handed a 10-year sentence.
According to Ntai, Motsieloa hired Mahatta to kill Mokati. Mahatta allegedly entered their home in March 2021, broke a light bulb and stabbed Mokati to death.
Mshololo produced photographs that were believed to have been taken during an identification parade and said the person Ntai identified as Mahatta was not him.
“Photos 3 and 4 depict the person who was pointed out by you [Ntai] as accused number 2 [Mahatta]. This picture depicts the person that was pointed out by you and was taken by an independent photographer,” Mshololo said.
You mentioned that accused number 2 [Mahatta] had a knife in his hand, and you also said it was dark because they had broken the bulb, and you said you hid yourself under the bed.
— Adv Zandile Mshololo
Ntai responded: “The person who is depicted here is not the person I pointed out.”
Mshololo then asked Ntai about the day Mokati was murdered and if she was able to identify the alleged hitman.
“I put to you that you couldn’t have identified the two people [Mahatta and the fourth suspect] in seconds while you were in fear and shock. You mentioned that accused number 2 [Mahatta] had a knife in his hand, and you also said it was dark because they had broken the bulb, and you said you hid yourself under the bed,” Mshololo said.
The state alleges that Motsieloa, a mineworker, poisoned Mokati twice in March 2021, but he survived. She then hired Mahatta, who stabbed and killed him later that month.
According to the indictment, Motsieloa then had Mokati’s remains cremated and put bricks in his coffin on the day of his burial. However, Mokati’s family found this out before he was buried.
It’s alleged that once Old Mutual paid Motsieloa the R1,2m insurance claim, she gave R30,000 to police officer Motsumi Tabane [accused number three] — who was investigating Mokati’s murder — not to implicate her.
The pair then allegedly conspired to kill Tabane’s colleague, Lekone Mohajane, after he allegedly refused to close Mokati’s murder case. Mohajane was killed in an apparent hijack in June 2023.
The trial is set to continue on Wednesday.
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