‘She is fighting beyond the grave to get justice’ — family of slain Mahlako Rabalao on postponed murder case

“My child is fighting beyond the grave, she will fight until she gets justice for her brutal murder.” 

So said the aunt of slain businesswoman and IT specialist Mahlako Malebo Rabalao as her niece’s case was postponed for the third time in the Alexandra magistrate's court on Monday.

Rabalao was killed and set alight in her Mercedes-Benz a few metres away from her home in Midrand on March 7.

Her body, burnt beyond recognition, was found on the same day her boyfriend Thubelihle Sbonakaliso Mpisi reported her missing at Midrand police station.

Mpisi is accused of her murder. He was arrested at his home in KwaZulu-Natal after four months of investigations.

The 30-year-old lawyer appeared briefly in court wearing a black and white suit. The case was postponed after Mpisi’s attorney, who was appointed last week, requested time to prepare for a bail application. It was postponed to August 22.

Rabalao’s aunt Mmaphefo Grace Mogotsi said she believed her niece’s spirit was fighting and would ensure she gets justice. 

“I do not have a lot to say, but I believe today [Monday] a suspect is in court because my child is fighting hard to get justice for herself,” Magoje told TimesLIVE.

Her niece's death “cut short a beautiful journey of a hardworking” 26-year-old IT specialist and robbed Rabalao of time to raise her three-year-old son, she said. 

A relative from Newcastle, who asked not to be named, said she was disappointed by the postponement, having saved money to travel to Johannesburg with hopes of getting answers.

“We travelled far to come here because we want justice for our child and to get to the depth of the case. We were hoping to hear details and get answers of what happened to Malebo. Seeing him [Mpisi] awakens a lot of pain, the whole process is hurting us emotionally, we want to get it over and done with,” she said. 

The court gallery was full, with Rabalao’s family wearing pink and white T-shirts printed with her smiling face. “Goodbyes hurt the most, when the story was not finished,” a slogan read on the T-shirts.

Rabalao’s relatives said she was killed days before she was due to move out of an apartment she shared with Mpisi in Midrand.

A relative alleged that the couple had relationship problems and Rabalao was set on moving out.

TimesLIVE