'We planned everything,' says Krugersdorp killing spree accused

Marcel Steyn, one of the people implicated in the Krugersdorp killing spree, says her convicted mother's claim that she did not take part in the crimes was a "desperate" attempt to get her daughter off the hook.

"Her testimony was a desperate attempt to try and get myself and Cecilia off [the hook]," she told the South Gauteng High Court on Tuesday.

Marcel said most of the testimony given by her mother, 51-year-old Marinda Steyn, had been false. Her mother has already been sentenced to 11 life terms for the killing spree.

She said her mother had lied about her not being involved in the murders.

Her mother, she added, had also lied about her not having any knowledge about improvised "bombs" the group had placed on cars.

"I was present when my mother (Marinda Steyn) was building the bombs. It took place at my mother's flat," she said.

Marcel - along with Cecilia Steyn, 37, and Zak Valentine, 33 - have pleaded not guilty to 32 counts, including murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, fraud and intimidation. Her brother Le Roux Steyn entered into a plea bargain with the state in 2018.

They were all part of Electus Per Deus - a group that viewed themselves as "chosen by God" - which allegedly killed 11 people between 2012 and 2016.

The first people allegedly murdered by the group were Natacha Burger, 33, and Joy Boonzaier, 63.

Marcel said all the murders were planned and everything they did had been thoroughly thought out. "We had planned everything. We didn't improvise. We planned beforehand," she said.

She said none of the murders took place "on the fly".

"Cecilia gave a lot of input on who should be murdered and how. We had to run everything by her and she had to approve it."

The trial continues.