‘I planned to kill her after she cheated on me’: murder-accused Flavio Hlabangwane

Murder-accused Flavio Hlabangwane, who has pleaded guilty to the premeditated murder of his girlfriend Tshepang Pitse, has alleged in his confession he plotted to kill her after he learnt she had cheated on him.

The confession is his second after the state declined his initial murder plea at the Palm Ridge magistrate's court earlier this week.

After his arrest last year, he attempted to take his own life twice but failed.

On Friday, through his lawyers, he admitted to having planned Pitse's murder. On the day of her murder, he took her bank card without her permission. A fight ensued over this which set his plan in motion.

He told the court that the murder, dismembering and discarding of body parts took place from  November 1 till November 13 2021.

The testimony of Pitse’s best friend, Thulisiwe Lubambo, prompted the admission.

A series of voicenote recordings which he admitted sending to Lubambo showed a pattern of abuse and anger.

“I’m not interested in your advice on how I should be running my relationship. I have that under control. So please do not give me advice as to how I should treat my girlfriend and what’s best for her. You could never love her more than I do,” he was heard saying in one. 

“If you feel you love her more than I do, then take her to Durban. But you guys must tell me where I stand. It's fine I don’t f***ng care. Don’t tell me how to f****ng talk to my girlfriend.

“I had an agreement with you that you’re gonna see her tomorrow if you wanna spend time with her. I’m not trying to sabotage her, I’m not trying to break you guys apart, and she [Pitse] knows that.

“What kind of advice is ‘she must walk away’, that is not matured advice?” said Hlabangwane in the messages.

Lubambo also testified Hlabangwane tried to solicit a romantic relationship with her after he and the deceased had broken up, a few months before she was killed.

WhatsApp messages admitted into court evidence showed she had turned him down.

Actuarial science graduate Hlabangwane said he could not forgive Pitse's infidelity.

“She was cheating on me, we tried to resolve the issue but I could not forgive her, we could not resolve the matter. She had asked that we try and fix our relationship. It was during this period that I started contemplating kill her.

“I was on the internet searching how to kill someone,” Hlabangwane said in his confession.

He said that during this period he met someone on a dating app as things between them had soured. The day she came to his house and he used her bank card and she questioned him about it, he got his chance.

The court has heard how Hlabangwane would have women over at his place as he “could not sleep in the house alone”. One of the women found Pitse's dismembered body in the fridge.

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