Caswell and Itumeleng Maseko's tempestuous relationship revealed

10 September 2018 - 10:46
By Meta Mphahlele
Businessman Caswell Maseko and his wife Itumeleng Makhalemele-Maseko and their child.
Businessman Caswell Maseko and his wife Itumeleng Makhalemele-Maseko and their child.

The Emalahleni woman accused of killing her millionaire husband with a knife opened two cases of assault against him in 2015, two years after they met.

Sunday World can reveal that Caswell Maseko had also opened a case of assault against his wife Itumeleng Makhalemele-Maseko three days after she opened the second case against him.

Mpumalanga police spokesperson Leonard Hlathi confirmed that the woman opened the first case in July and the second one in October 2015, the same year that they got married in a traditional ceremony.

Hlathi said the cases were later withdrawn by the couple.

Maseko's family acknowledged that the couple were having a tumultuous marriage but have nonetheless declared war against their daughter-in-law.

The family told Sunday World that the gloves are off and that they will fight tooth and nail to ensure that Makhalemele-Maseko rots in jail for allegedly killing their son.

Seated in one of the rooms at Maseko's family home in Duvha Park, family members gathered to support Maseko's aunt who was on the mattress as the chief mourner. His mother died in December last year.

Family members were spitting mad, half of them speaking all at once, as they accused Makhalemele-Maseko, 26, of being a bad woman and a pathetic liar.

The family claimed they found empty wardrobes with the 30-year-old man's clothes missing when they went to his plush home to collect his belongings during the week. They believe Makhalemele-Maseko sent someone to collect them.

The lawyer student dropout and a supply chain student allegedly stabbed her husband to death early on Saturday last week.

According to police sources close to the case, it is alleged that the wife had gone out with friends for the first time since she had her second child four months ago.

The sources allege that when she arrived home in the early hours of the morning with a friend, a fight ensued after the husband, who was at home sleeping, told them to keep it down because they were making a noise.

According to police sources, the husband started assaulting his wife and her friend who ran outside to get help from the security guards.

"When the friend and security guards came back, they found that Itumeleng had already stabbed him. Itumeleng fled the scene and handed herself over to the police in the company of her lawyer two days later," said the source.

However, Maseko's family poured cold water on the friend's version of events saying Makhalemele-Maseko stabbed her husband while he was sleeping and defenceless.

They said they found him lying on the bed in his underwear with a stab wound to the chest next to their little baby.

Thembisile Masanabo was the first wife of Caswell Maseko who  was allegedly stabbed to death by his second wife.
Image: Kabelo Mokoena Thembisile Masanabo was the first wife of Caswell Maseko who was allegedly stabbed to death by his second wife.

Facts about Maseko and his two wives

  • They got married in a traditional ceremony in 2015
  • They have two children; a four-year-old son and a four-month-old boy
  • Maseko has a five-year-old son from his first marriage
  • Maseko's first wife is Thembisile Masanabo
  • Masanabo is a trained electrical engineer who works for Anglo American based in Middelburg
  • Maseko was a trained engineer who worked for several companies including Columbus Stainless Steel, Mafube Coal and Icentz AMT Engineers
  • He ventured into business in 2012 when he became a co-founder in Lisile Engineering and Supplies. He later resigned from the company
  • He established WDC Holdings in 2015 and registered his latest company Clear Water Swimming Pools this year
  • Itumeleng Makhalemele-Maseko registered for a law degree at Unisa in 2015 but never completed her studies
  • She registered for a certificate in procurement and supply chain management with Unisa in January this year
  • She is a director in Seicon Services registered in 2015

*Additional reporting by Amos Mananyetso