After almost a year of searching for Sibusiso Sithebe who went missing in January last year, his family clung to the hope they would be reunited with him, not knowing he might already be buried.
They were shattered when investigations led them to believe that their son might be lying in a grave, allegedly killed by the mother of his 10-year-old daughter and her husband.
Sithebe went missing on January 1 2022 and a missing person's case was registered two days later.
According to the missing person posters, which circulated on social media, he was last seen wearing a red shirt and black jeans.
Sithebe’s sister-in-law, Lesego Mohale, told TimesLIVE the family had hoped they would find him alive.
“Maybe in a psychiatric hospital or somewhere, we were just hoping that we find him alive. We were even scared thinking that maybe because he was a driver maybe he ran over someone and was arrested and we didn't know where he was being kept,” she said.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said Sibusiso Mahlangu and his wife Lerato Mahlangu appeared in the Soshanguve magistrate's court on April 20 on murder, defeating the ends of justice and fraud charges.
It is alleged the husband killed Sithebe at their RDP house and torched the house with his body inside.
“It is alleged that the wife then falsely claimed that the burnt dead body is that of her husband and registered his death at the department of home affairs. She allegedly got a fake death certificate knowing her husband was alive and allegedly buried the wrong person knowingly after it is alleged that she also claimed money for policies,” said Mahanjana.
Mahanjana said the case was postponed until May 4 for further investigations.
Mohale said when searching for Sithebe, the family had asked a relative working for a cellphone network provider to track his last calls on his phone. She said the call log showed he had last made a call to Lerato.
“It showed that he called her number, and the location showed that he was at the location of that woman's home. We called her and asked when last she spoke to Sibusiso and she told us she last spoke to him in November/October.
“We told her he was missing and we can't find him. She was just busy crying saying: 'You are telling me that my baby daddy is missing while I am mourning my husband. What you are telling me is not right you are confusing me more than I am, you are causing me stress,'” Mohale said.
Mohale said the family was shocked to learn of Lerato's alleged involvement in Sithebe's murder.
According to reports by News24, Sibusiso Mahlangu — who was reported to have died in a house fire last year — was caught driving a stolen car.
Police spokesperson Lt-Col Mavela Masondo said on April 16, police in Hammanskraal received a tip-off about a suspected stolen motor vehicle.
“Police responded swiftly and stopped the vehicle, a white VW Polo, in Hammanskraal. Upon inspecting the vehicle, it was confirmed that it was reported stolen in Witbank this month. The driver of the vehicle was arrested and charged with possession of a suspected stolen motor vehicle.”
While questioning the suspect, it was established he allegedly killed and burnt a person in Soshanguve in January 2022, before fleeing to Mpumalanga, Masondo said, adding that a case of murder was then added.
Mohale said the family was not doing well.
“We are not OK, we are saying one thing, they must give us the body so that we can bury him and he can have some rest. It's very painful to look for a person for one year only to find that you have been looking for a body. Its painful. The only thing we want is to bury him,” she said.
Mohale said the family was waiting for a court order to get the body exhumed.
“We don't know when that will be but we are asking that this is done as soon as possible because we need closure.”
TimesLIVE
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Woman who claimed burnt body was husband's arrested with real husband for murder of her daughter's father
The husband was arrested on April 16, allegedly driving a stolen vehicle
Image: 123rf/ Igor Stevanovic
After almost a year of searching for Sibusiso Sithebe who went missing in January last year, his family clung to the hope they would be reunited with him, not knowing he might already be buried.
They were shattered when investigations led them to believe that their son might be lying in a grave, allegedly killed by the mother of his 10-year-old daughter and her husband.
Sithebe went missing on January 1 2022 and a missing person's case was registered two days later.
According to the missing person posters, which circulated on social media, he was last seen wearing a red shirt and black jeans.
Sithebe’s sister-in-law, Lesego Mohale, told TimesLIVE the family had hoped they would find him alive.
“Maybe in a psychiatric hospital or somewhere, we were just hoping that we find him alive. We were even scared thinking that maybe because he was a driver maybe he ran over someone and was arrested and we didn't know where he was being kept,” she said.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said Sibusiso Mahlangu and his wife Lerato Mahlangu appeared in the Soshanguve magistrate's court on April 20 on murder, defeating the ends of justice and fraud charges.
It is alleged the husband killed Sithebe at their RDP house and torched the house with his body inside.
“It is alleged that the wife then falsely claimed that the burnt dead body is that of her husband and registered his death at the department of home affairs. She allegedly got a fake death certificate knowing her husband was alive and allegedly buried the wrong person knowingly after it is alleged that she also claimed money for policies,” said Mahanjana.
Mahanjana said the case was postponed until May 4 for further investigations.
Mohale said when searching for Sithebe, the family had asked a relative working for a cellphone network provider to track his last calls on his phone. She said the call log showed he had last made a call to Lerato.
“It showed that he called her number, and the location showed that he was at the location of that woman's home. We called her and asked when last she spoke to Sibusiso and she told us she last spoke to him in November/October.
“We told her he was missing and we can't find him. She was just busy crying saying: 'You are telling me that my baby daddy is missing while I am mourning my husband. What you are telling me is not right you are confusing me more than I am, you are causing me stress,'” Mohale said.
Mohale said the family was shocked to learn of Lerato's alleged involvement in Sithebe's murder.
According to reports by News24, Sibusiso Mahlangu — who was reported to have died in a house fire last year — was caught driving a stolen car.
Police spokesperson Lt-Col Mavela Masondo said on April 16, police in Hammanskraal received a tip-off about a suspected stolen motor vehicle.
“Police responded swiftly and stopped the vehicle, a white VW Polo, in Hammanskraal. Upon inspecting the vehicle, it was confirmed that it was reported stolen in Witbank this month. The driver of the vehicle was arrested and charged with possession of a suspected stolen motor vehicle.”
While questioning the suspect, it was established he allegedly killed and burnt a person in Soshanguve in January 2022, before fleeing to Mpumalanga, Masondo said, adding that a case of murder was then added.
Mohale said the family was not doing well.
“We are not OK, we are saying one thing, they must give us the body so that we can bury him and he can have some rest. It's very painful to look for a person for one year only to find that you have been looking for a body. Its painful. The only thing we want is to bury him,” she said.
Mohale said the family was waiting for a court order to get the body exhumed.
“We don't know when that will be but we are asking that this is done as soon as possible because we need closure.”
TimesLIVE
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
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