Aubrey Manaka has pleaded guilty to the murder of 21-year-old Capricorn TVET college student Precious Ramabulana.
The trial of the 29-year-old was set to start on Wednesday in the Limpopo High Court in Polokwane, but the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said Manaka had tendered a guilty plea on all charges.
NPA Limpopo spokesperson Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi said Manaka faced charges of murder, rape, robbery and housebreaking with intent to commit an offence.
In November 2019, Ramabulana was found in her off-campus room in Mokomene, where she had been raped and stabbed multiple times. She later succumbed to her injuries. Police found her body in a pool of blood.
Manaka was arrested at his parental home in Nyakelang Village, where he was allegedly found in possession of Ramabulana’s cellphone, bloodstained clothes and a sharp object.
He abandoned bail during his first court appearance in December 2019, and was remanded in custody.
Malabi-Dzhangi said a previous case of a sexual nature involving a child, dating back to 2014, had been “reinstated” due to police investigations into the Ramabulana murder.
The case was adjourned to Thursday, June 10, for arguments around mitigation and aggravation of sentence.
TimesLIVE
