Sandile Mantsoe is expected to appear in the Johannesburg High Court on Monday in connection with the murder of his girlfriend‚ Karabo Mokoena‚ whose charred remains were found in a shallow ditch in Lyndhurst in April 2017.
Mantsoe‚ 28‚ has been behind bars since he was denied bail last year.
During his bail application‚ the married father of three‚ who is estranged from his wife‚ denied killing Mokoena‚ saying he had come home from a business meeting on April 28 and found that she had committed suicide in his Sandton apartment. The pair had been together earlier in the day.
He did not specify how she had died.
Mantsoe claimed that‚ out of fear and panic that he would be blamed for the death of his on-and-off girlfriend‚ he had disposed of her body. He drenched Mokoena’s corpse in pool acid and petrol‚ put a tyre around it and set it alight. The body was found a day later with only certain parts still recognisable.
After not hearing from her for days‚ Mokoena’s family and friends went on a frantic search for her‚ circulating her pictures on social media‚ unaware that a badly burnt body that lay in a government mortuary was hers.
During the trial‚ the state submitted that Mantsoe had told police that he had killed Mokoena to sever a blood ritual that had performed to strengthen his business. His business had reportedly started to fail once he and Mokoena parted ways.
Mantsoe‚ however‚ denied this confession.
Post-mortem tests failed to deduce what had killed Mokoena as her body was too badly burnt. The state submitted during the bail application that Mokoena could have been alive when she was set alight.
Mantsoe faces charges of premeditated murder‚ defeating the ends of justice and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
Sandile Mantsoe due in court
Sandile Mantsoe is expected to appear in the Johannesburg High Court on Monday in connection with the murder of his girlfriend‚ Karabo Mokoena‚ whose charred remains were found in a shallow ditch in Lyndhurst in April 2017.
Mantsoe‚ 28‚ has been behind bars since he was denied bail last year.
During his bail application‚ the married father of three‚ who is estranged from his wife‚ denied killing Mokoena‚ saying he had come home from a business meeting on April 28 and found that she had committed suicide in his Sandton apartment. The pair had been together earlier in the day.
He did not specify how she had died.
Mantsoe claimed that‚ out of fear and panic that he would be blamed for the death of his on-and-off girlfriend‚ he had disposed of her body. He drenched Mokoena’s corpse in pool acid and petrol‚ put a tyre around it and set it alight. The body was found a day later with only certain parts still recognisable.
After not hearing from her for days‚ Mokoena’s family and friends went on a frantic search for her‚ circulating her pictures on social media‚ unaware that a badly burnt body that lay in a government mortuary was hers.
During the trial‚ the state submitted that Mantsoe had told police that he had killed Mokoena to sever a blood ritual that had performed to strengthen his business. His business had reportedly started to fail once he and Mokoena parted ways.
Mantsoe‚ however‚ denied this confession.
Post-mortem tests failed to deduce what had killed Mokoena as her body was too badly burnt. The state submitted during the bail application that Mokoena could have been alive when she was set alight.
Mantsoe faces charges of premeditated murder‚ defeating the ends of justice and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.