Luzuko Pongoma

Luzuko Pongoma

The family of murdered police officer Jubriel Tladi say they want her killer to go to jail for a long time and die there.

Captain Tladi was killed by her ex-boyfriend, Oupa Lethebe, at the Vosloorus police station on August 3 2005.

This was three days after she was promoted to the rank of captain. She was wearing her senior uniform for the first time on the day she was killed.

Yesterday her murderer was found guilty by Johannesburg high court Judge Nathan Jacobs, who described his actions as cruel.

He said Lethebe killed Tladi "mercilessly while she was kneeling and pleading for her life".

Anna Tladi, Jubriel's mother, said her family had been unsafe with Lethebe around.

"Now that he has been found guilty I hope he dies in prison," Tladi said.

"He had kept on calling and threatening us long after my daughter died.

"When I told him to stop calling us he told me that it was not the first time he had killed and he was going to get away with it.

"He said he was going to kill us all, including our cats and dogs. He threatened to bomb my home."

Tladi said Lethebe had ruined her family's lives. Her grandson even had to quit school and find work after his mother was killed because they were in dire straits.

"Jubriel's son, Tshepo, was studying IT at Boston College in Germiston, but had to quit and find work because we could not afford the fees.

He has now joined the police force to continue his mother's good legacy.

Lethebe killed Tladi when he found her sitting in a car outside the Vosloorus police station with a male colleague.

Lethebe had pleaded not guilty. He told the court he went to the police station to fetch Tladi so they could buy clothes for her to wear on August 8 when they went to register their marriage at the local home affairs office.

Lethebe said he did not know Tladi had ended their relationship and that she had a restraining order against him.

After Lethebe gunned Tladi down he shot himself in the chin in a suicide attempt. He has since lost the use of his left eye.

Jacobs called Lethebe an untruthful witness. He said he told the court that after the couple had had an argument, and before he fired the shots, he had ended their relationship.

Polette Tladi, Jubriel younger sister, said she told Lethebe he would be arrested for killing her sister, but he kept on threatening the family and bragging about his previous murder.