Tavern owner Pontsho Mohlanka, who is accused of killing three children in Orange Farm, allegedly called and sent phone messages to investigators giving them false leads about the killings days prior to her second arrest.
This testimony was presented at the high court sitting in Palm Ridge by Cpt Kgabo Mohlamme, from Gauteng Detective Services.
He first met Mohlanka after she was arrested for the murder of Mzwandile Zitho, 5, in April 2020, when the boy's body was found in her tavern.
Mohlanka and her boyfriend, who cannot be mentioned because he is under police protection, were arrested for Mzwandile’s murder. However, the charge was provisionally withdrawn after four days because of insufficient evidence.
But Mohlanka remained in custody as police further probed her citizenship. The Lesotho national later pleaded guilty to being in SA illegally and was sentenced to 10 days in jail on September 6.
Upon her release in September, the lead investigator who was handling Mzwandile’s murder case received more than five messages allegedly from Mohlanka claiming that Mzwandile was killed by individuals residing close to the tavern.
“The lead investigator got the messages on a Friday afternoon. We looked through the messages but decided to properly follow up on the sender’s number and provided details on Monday morning. But the following week that is when two more children (Simphiwe Mgcina and Mpho Makondo) were found dead near the Orange Farm tavern,” Mohlamme told the court.
The naked bodies were found on September 19 2020.
Simphiwe’s arm was found tied with a handwritten note containing five names including that of Mohlanka’s boyfriend and her neighbours. The note indicated that one of Mohlanka’s neighbours, Muzikayise Nkosi, was responsible for all three killings.
Mohlamme said police requested cellphone coordinates of the cellphone number that had sent messages to Mzwandile’s murder case lead investigator. The investigation suggested that the messages were sent from Orange Farm Extension 11.
“A few days after we found Simphiwe and Mpho, I got a phone call from a cellphone number that was not in my cellphone contacts. The caller did not want to give me their name but she told me that Muzikayise Nkosi killed the three children in Orange Farm and hung up after that.
“I tried to call back that number but it went to voicemail. We sent the caller's number for cellphone coordinates so that we can follow up on the caller and the information provided,” said Mohlamme.
Even though the caller did not mention her name, Mohlamme said he suspected Mohlanka made the call.
“I spent a lot of time talking with Mohlanka during her first arrest. The voice of the caller sounded exactly like hers," he said.
Police searched for Mohlanka and discovered that she had left the tavern.
Mohlamme said in September 2020 he spotted Mohlanka passing by a petrol station in Protea South and stopped her. He then called the cellphone number that had called him a few days earlier and the phone rang from Mohlanka's pocket.
"I took the phone and checked its coordinates and they matched with the device that had called me and sent messages to the police a few days ago. When we questioned Mohlanka about what we had discovered, she remained silent. We arrested her on the spot,” said Mohlamme.
Mohlanka’s lawyer, Makgalanoto Kgagara, did not question Mohlamme's version.
Kgagara only put it to the witness that Mohlanka has never been to Orange Farm Extension 11, the area where cellphone messages were sent.
“I can’t comment on the location picked up by cellphone coordinates. That information will be answered by cellphone tracing experts,” responded Mahlamme when the defence questioned him about the accuracy of data provided by the cellphone records.
nzimandeb@sowetan.co.za
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