Motsieloa, Hope Mahatta (the alleged hitman) and Tabane are currently on trial for the murder of Mokati and Mohajane. They also face charges of conspiracy to commit murder, fraud and robbery with aggravating circumstances. Mahatta, a Malawi national, also faces a charge of being in the country illegally.
The trio appeared in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday, where Motsieloa's aunt, who cannot be named for her own safety, took a stand as a state witness.
The aunt, who pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 years in jail in June 2024 for the same charges, told the court how Motsieloa lured Mokati from Lesotho in 2020 under the guise of helping him find a job in SA. She then organised a fraudulent SA ID for him.
The aunt also claimed Motsieloa took out a life insurance policy on the deceased without his knowledge before he was killed.
“In the first incident, she [Motsieloa] poisoned the deceased but the poison did not work. In the second attempt in March 2021, she took us to a tavern in Ledig [a village close to Sun City] where she bought alcohol for all of us. When Mokati left our table to dance, Motsieloa put poison in Mokati's beer. When we arrived home Mokati told us he was not feeling well but he later recovered,” said the aunt.
The aunt told the court that three days after the poisoning attempt failed, she and Motsieloa went to a traditional healer to seek help to acquire a hitman. She said the traditional healer introduced Mahatta to them.
The aunt claimed Motseiloa told her she wanted Mokati dead as she was afraid he'd snitch on her about the fraudulent SA documents she acquired for him. .
According to the indictment, on March 28 2021 Motsieloa lured Mokati to the aunt's house where he was eventually murdered.
“Mahatta and the yet-to-be-located second hitman entered the house of Motseiloa's accomplice, broke the light and then viciously stabbed Mokati multiple times with a sharp object,” read the document.
According to the state, Tabane, who was appointed to investigate the murder, developed a romantic relationship with Motsieloa. She allegedly confessed to the murder to him and paid him a R30,000 bribe.
Tabane initially tried to close the case, claiming the suspects were unknown and untraceable. He then tried to influence Mohajane to squash the case but failed.
“When it became apparent that senior officer Lekone Mohajane had not closed the case, they [Motsieloa and Tabane] allegedly planned his murder with another individual, who has since turned state witness.”
The cause of Mohajane’s death was determined to be multiple injuries to the head and chest, including blunt force trauma.
The prosecution has lined up 54 witnesses to testify against the accused, including police officers, forensic experts, mortuary officials and Old Mutual representatives.
In December, police minister Senzo Mchunu revealed that 67 of the murder cases police investigated in Eastern Cape, from 2020 to 2024, were related to insurance policies.
The trial continues.
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Woman lured relative from Lesotho, 'killed him' for insurance payout
Mineworker plotted with hitman, police officer
Image: 123RF/STOCKSTUDIO44
In 2020, a woman allegedly lured her relative from Lesotho to SA, and in one month, she poisoned him twice. When he didn’t die, the woman hired a hitman to murder him. All this for R1,2m life insurance payout.
The state alleges that Mathabo Motsieloa, a mineworker in Brits, North West, poisoned Gift Mokati twice in March 2021 but he survived. She then hired a hitman who stabbed and killed him later that month.
According to the indictment, Motsieloa then cremated Mokati's body and put bricks in his coffin on the day of his burial. However, the family discovered the plot before Mokati could be buried.
This is one of many cases of insurance murders that have been brought into the spotlight in SA recently. The trend has become a concern to the police as well as the insurance industry.
It's alleged that once Old Mutual paid Motsieloa R1,2m in insurance claim, she gave R30,000 to Motsumi Tabane – a police officer who was investigating Mokati's murder – not to implicate her. The two then allegedly conspired to kill Tabane's senior colleague Lekone Mohajane after he allegedly refused to close Mokati's murder case. Mohajane was killed in an apparent hijack in June 2023.
Tshwane: In November, couple Lerato and Sibusiso Mahlangu were found guilty of murdering Lerato's ex-boyfriend and baby daddy. They staged the body as a decoy and later claimed over half-a-million-rand from a life insurance policy.
Kempton Park: Infamous former policewoman and serial killer Rosemary Ndlovu was convicted for the deaths of six people – her live-in partner and five relatives – between 2012 and 2018. In 2021, she was sentenced to six life sentences for her crimes.
Brits: Onthatile Sebati, just 15 years old at the time, orchestrated the brutal murders of her father, police Const Solomon Lucky Sebati, her mother Mmatshepo, a nurse at an old-age home, her 19-year-old pregnant sister Tshegofatso, and her three-year-old brother Quinton. The killings took place at their home in Mmakau near Brits in December 2016. In October, she was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Limpopo: Sgt Raesetja Rachel Kutumela is currently on trial for six insurance-related murders. She allegedly murdered her victims after fraudulently taking out life and funeral insurance policies in their names, ultimately cashing out R10m. The victims were reportedly insured with multiple service providers including Absa, Standard Bank, Capitec, Hollard, Assupol, Old Mutual, Onelife and Clientele, according to Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi, spokesperson for the NPA in Limpopo
Mahikeng: In November 2023, Agnes Setshwantsho was arrested for poisoning her niece to cash in on an insurance policy worth over R3m. She faces charges of murder, two counts of fraud, and one count of defeating the ends of justice.
Lenasia: Former nurse Sithembile Xulu allegedly orchestrated the killing of her helper, intending to claim R6m in insurance payout.
Eastern Cape: Police investigations revealed at least 67 murders were related to insurance fraud where victims were murdered by family members, friends or acquaintances who stood to gain significant sums from life insurance policies and bank claims.
Motsieloa, Hope Mahatta (the alleged hitman) and Tabane are currently on trial for the murder of Mokati and Mohajane. They also face charges of conspiracy to commit murder, fraud and robbery with aggravating circumstances. Mahatta, a Malawi national, also faces a charge of being in the country illegally.
The trio appeared in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday, where Motsieloa's aunt, who cannot be named for her own safety, took a stand as a state witness.
The aunt, who pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 years in jail in June 2024 for the same charges, told the court how Motsieloa lured Mokati from Lesotho in 2020 under the guise of helping him find a job in SA. She then organised a fraudulent SA ID for him.
The aunt also claimed Motsieloa took out a life insurance policy on the deceased without his knowledge before he was killed.
“In the first incident, she [Motsieloa] poisoned the deceased but the poison did not work. In the second attempt in March 2021, she took us to a tavern in Ledig [a village close to Sun City] where she bought alcohol for all of us. When Mokati left our table to dance, Motsieloa put poison in Mokati's beer. When we arrived home Mokati told us he was not feeling well but he later recovered,” said the aunt.
The aunt told the court that three days after the poisoning attempt failed, she and Motsieloa went to a traditional healer to seek help to acquire a hitman. She said the traditional healer introduced Mahatta to them.
The aunt claimed Motseiloa told her she wanted Mokati dead as she was afraid he'd snitch on her about the fraudulent SA documents she acquired for him. .
According to the indictment, on March 28 2021 Motsieloa lured Mokati to the aunt's house where he was eventually murdered.
“Mahatta and the yet-to-be-located second hitman entered the house of Motseiloa's accomplice, broke the light and then viciously stabbed Mokati multiple times with a sharp object,” read the document.
According to the state, Tabane, who was appointed to investigate the murder, developed a romantic relationship with Motsieloa. She allegedly confessed to the murder to him and paid him a R30,000 bribe.
Tabane initially tried to close the case, claiming the suspects were unknown and untraceable. He then tried to influence Mohajane to squash the case but failed.
“When it became apparent that senior officer Lekone Mohajane had not closed the case, they [Motsieloa and Tabane] allegedly planned his murder with another individual, who has since turned state witness.”
The cause of Mohajane’s death was determined to be multiple injuries to the head and chest, including blunt force trauma.
The prosecution has lined up 54 witnesses to testify against the accused, including police officers, forensic experts, mortuary officials and Old Mutual representatives.
In December, police minister Senzo Mchunu revealed that 67 of the murder cases police investigated in Eastern Cape, from 2020 to 2024, were related to insurance policies.
The trial continues.
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