SOWETAN SAYS | If only SA cops could emulate Sgt Meselane

With crime levels that are seemingly getting out of control, SA needs policemen with capability and determination to make our country safe.

Sgt Nchaupe Meselane from Soshanguve is one such police officer whose tenacity secured the conviction and sentencing of Lerato and Sibusiso Mahlangu for murder.

The pair brutally killed Lerato’s ex-lover Sibusiso Sithebe in 2022, burnt him and used his body to claim R575,000 from life insurance. Lerato, according to the state, passed off the body as that of her husband Mahlangu to claim for the insurance cover.

Meselane, who was assigned to investigate the case of the fire that killed Sithebe, worked around the clock following leads that ended up exposing the evil deeds of the couple. He said he was shocked to discover that Lerato, who had been asking for help to claim from life insurance, was involved in the murder of someone.

Lerato and Mahlangu were handed life sentences in the Pretoria high court two weeks ago, bringing to an end the agony for Sithebe’s family which had been waiting for justice for nearly four years.

Their conviction and sentencing was partly thanks to Meselane, who collaborated with other officers from Hammanskraal and prosecutors to crack the case. Meselane told Sowetan this week that this was his first ever insurance murder case since he became a police officer 19 years ago. Though faced with the daunting task of unravelling a complex case and appearing for the first time as an investigator in the high court for trial, Maselane was determined to prove his worth.

“I always wanted to be a police officer from when I was a child. It’s all I ever knew,” he told this newspaper.  The significance of Meselane’s work is underscored by Sithebe’s family welcoming the conclusion of the case.

“We are happy that justice has been served, considering the fact that they [Lerato and Mahlangu] lied for such a long time, and now we know what actually transpired,” said Sithebe’s brother Xolani.

Meselane’s efforts bear testimony that there are good men and women in blue who are determined to make SA safe and bring about justice to families who are robbed of their loved ones by criminals.

He has earned our recognition through his hard work and selfless pursuit of justice. The lesson to be learnt from Maselane's case by all police officers is to go beyond the call of duty and willingness to use resources at their disposal to make our society better and free of crime.

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