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Born-again confessed killer stuns court with revelations of previous murders

RELIGIOUS: Maneo and Jacob Chakane, sello's parents. Pic. Len Kumalo. 23/11/06. © Sowetan.
RELIGIOUS: Maneo and Jacob Chakane, sello's parents. Pic. Len Kumalo. 23/11/06. © Sowetan.

Ntwaagae Seleka

Ntwaagae Seleka

"I'm a killer and I'm willing to take any punishment for my sins," self-confessed killer- turned-pastor Osia Sello Chakane, 39, told the Vereeniging circuit court yesterday.

He went on to quote from the Bible and asked for forgiveness.

"I want law and justice to prevail," he said.

Chakane had pleaded guilty to robbing and murdering Mojalefa Khafela and Daniel Sechabela in Zone 13, Sebokeng, on May 1 2002.

But his extraordinary confession was only the beginning,

He stunned the court when he confessed to killing five people before he murdered Khafela and Sechabela.

His alleged accomplices in the killing of Khafela and Sechabela, John Tshabalala, 36, and Piet Ratsoeu, 31, have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Judge Seun Moshidi will pass sentence on Chakane today.

Chakane told the court that when he murdered the two men he was possessed by the devil and was doing "things of the darkness".

He said he was now a born-again Christian and a pastor at Groenpunt Maximum Security Prison, near Sasolburg.

"I feel guilty for what I did and I want the public and the relatives of the deceased to forgive me."

He said it would not be easy for the men's families to forgive him and they would never forget what he had done to their loved ones.

There were gasps from the public gallery when he quoted from the Bible.

He said he had been inspired by the spirit of Jesus to hand himself over to the police after two years on the run.

Moshidi asked Chakane why it took him so long to decide to surrender to the police.

He replied: "There is a time for everything."

Chakane's parents yesterday pleaded for forgiveness for their son.

Maneo, 71, and her husband Jacob, 75, said their son did the right thing by confessing to the court that he was a murderer.

"Our son was doing things of the darkness and the devil controlled him. We are appealing to anyone affected by Sello's wrongdoing to forgive him," said the pensioners at their Sebokeng home.

The couple said they had raised Sello in a religious way and suspected nothing until the police started enquiring about him at their home.

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