Two judgments handed down by the High Court this week illustrate the chilling lengths to which individuals will go for financial gain. In both cases, the perpetrators hatched elaborate plots to kill those closest to them so they could claim insurance payouts.
The High Court in Makhanda yesterday found Nomsa Caroline Seyisi (46) was guilty of murdering Thembinkosi Wambi (41) and of attempting to murder his girlfriend, Zukiswa Frans (age unknown), last year.
Seyisi and Frans are first cousins who grew up together in the same home.
Seyisi had helped her work colleague to arrange an insurance policy for Frans. The policy, which was taken out without Frans’ knowledge, would pay out R120 000 in the event of an unnatural death, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said.
In August last year, Wambi and Frans were at his parents’ home in Makhanda in the Eastern Cape when Seyisi arrived with two men. Seyisi, as part of a pre-planned ruse to lure Frans away and kill her, asked Frans to accompany them so she could direct her companions to the house of a traditional healer.
En route, Seyisi asked the driver to stop so she could urinate. Wambi and Frans were ordered to get out of the vehicle.
One of the men took Wambi and Frans’ cellphones and instructed them to lie face down on the ground, with their hands behind their heads. Wambi was shot in the head and died at the scene, while the bullet that struck Frans hit her hand but did not penetrate. Frans pretended to be dead, covering her head with her hand.
“After the shooting, one of the assailants instructed Seyisi to check whether the victims were dead. She placed her foot on the backs of each of the victims and reported to her accomplices that they were indeed dead. Seyisi and her companions then drove off, leaving the couple behind, assuming they were both dead,” the NPA said.
Frans managed to walk to a nearby house, where the police were called. Days later, after learning that the police were searching for her, Seyisi handed herself in at the Makhanda Police Station. She was arrested, but her two male accomplices remain at large.
Seyisi received life imprisonment for Wambi’s murder and 15 years for the attempted murder of Frans.
Woman murders her former partner
On Tuesday, the High Court in Pretoria found Lerato Mahlangu (33) and her husband, Sibusiso (34), guilty of premeditated murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and three counts of fraud.
Before her marriage to Sibusiso, Lerato was in a romantic relationship with the victim, Sibusiso Sithebe, with whom she shares a minor child, the NPA said.
In January 2022, the Mahlangus lured Sithebe to their house in Soshanguve, where they killed him. They attempted to make it seem as if Sibusiso had been the victim. They placed Sibusiso’s ring on Sithebe’s finger, dressed him in Sibusiso’s clothing, and burned the body inside the house.
Lerato subsequently pretended to return from Kwa-Mhlanga in Mpumalanga after being informed of the fire. She falsely identified the body as that of her husband to the police.
Lerato submitted three claims for insurance policies taken out in her husband’s name with Old Mutual, where she worked a sales consultant. The claims totalled R575 000 – R500 000 in life cover, a R50 000 death benefit, and funeral cover of R25 000.
The plot unravelled in April last year when the police pulled over Sibusiso in Hammanskraal on suspicion that he was in possession of a stolen car. The authorities discovered that Sibusiso had been officially registered as dead. Lerato was arrested two days later.
The Mahlangus pleaded not guilty to the charges and denied involvement in the crimes.
Sithebe’s mother testified about the events leading up to her son’s funeral and how the family were unable to view the body at close range because of the Covid-19 regulations. This reinforced their belief that they were burying her son.
Judge Papi Masopa found that although the State relied on circumstantial evidence, it was able to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. The judge also found the State’s witnesses to be credible and reliable.
The case was postponed to 22 November for a provisional sentencing date.
