Widow says hubby's murder was a hit

Nothing could save him from the hijackers - He was tipped off that they wanted to kill him and steal his luxury car. Cops stepped in, but...

EKURHULENI prison warder Makhabane Mpokothi's death last week could have been planned as far back as March, but his fate was eventually sealed on Saturday night when he was murdered outside a pub in Wattville, Benoni.

His wife of 25 years, Bella Mpokothi, said they were given a chilling warning back in March that a gang of Mozambicans were planning not only to rob them of their flashy car, a Range Rover, but also to kill her husband.

"Our neighbour Steve saw a suspicious looking man outside our yard and went over to find out what he was looking for.

"He introduced himself to Steve as Sajo and said he was from Mozambique and desperately wanted to warn us about a gang's plan to hijack and kill my husband," a distraught Bella told Sowetan.

She added: "The man (Sajo) said he was initially part of the gang to rob my husband, but decided to pull out when they said they would kill him.

"We alerted the police and the men were arrested but were soon released because Sajo disappeared and the case would not be strong without him testifying."

But on Saturday her husband was brutally murdered, and though the car was recovered on the Heidelberg road three hours later, Bella was left shattered.

"We knew that our lives were in danger after what Sajo told us, but we refused to live our lives in fear. I never thought it would be the last time I saw my husband alive when he left for the pub," she said.

What happened next were the news that left her paralysed with shock.

"I received a call from Steve just before midnight asking me if I had heard what happened. At that time I had not heard anything, so I quickly rushed to Sunshine Hospital in Actonville, where the doctor told me my husband had died on arrival."

Mpokothi's brother, Tsiliso, said he could easily have died too.

"He only had two beers and was ready to head back home. He went to the car while I waited for my friend Christopher. A while later, somebody told me that my brother had been shot. I found him lying bleeding on the street with a bullet wound below his right eye. We rushed him to hospital but it was too late."

A week before his death, Mpokothi was hijacked.

Another man from Wattville was also hijacked because his car looked similar to Mpokothi's. But his life was spared. He was only beaten up and dumped a distance from the township.

Actonville police spokesperson Captain Mack Mngomezulu said no arrests had been made but confirmed that investigations were under way.

He said they were also investigating if there was a syndicate stealing cars and sending them across the border.