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Protesters holding placards protested outside the court during the appearance.

“I murdered Maswanganyi”

 

The family of the missing Hlulani Maswanganyi, who disappeared three years ago after allegedly being abducted by former Malamulele traffic officer Masingita Chavani, said they were nearing closure in the case.

This follows the admission by one of the accused, Steven Sithole, during the trial at the Limpopo High Court sitting in Thohoyandou last Wednesday, that he had murdered Hlulani. He said it had not been his intention to kill her, but he had been lured into committing the crime by the promise of R50 000 by the former traffic officer.

The state accepted the admission and the presiding judge, Judge Frans Kgomo, said he was satisfied with his plea.

The accused’s attorney, Mr Mmbambadzeni Manwadu, asked for early sentencing of his client, since he had pleaded guilty. Sithole had the kidnapping and robbery charges against him withdrawn.

Following the admission made by Sithole, the judge separated the trial of the two accused, and Sithole will appear again in court on 14 June, with Chavani appearing on 20 June.

Before Wednesday’s proceedings could start, a group of women from Shikundu, who had arrived in many taxis, were waving placards with messages on and chanting anti-Chavani songs. Ms Grace Hlungwani of the local Shikundu Sanco said that they were there to give the family of the victim support and also to tell the court not to grant the killers bail. “We have been coming here since the start of the case and we will stop at nothing in ensuring that the suspects rot in jail if they cannot disclose where the body of Hlulani is,” she said.

After the court proceedings court, family member Mr Wilson Mahlawule said they were a bit relieved that Sithole had confessed. “As a family, we are coming closer to reaching closure. Now that they will be appearing separately, Sithole will have the opportunity to say everything he knows about the killing of our loved one. We still need to know where our Hlulani is or where her bones are hidden. We would like to give her a decent funeral, so that her child will know where the mother is buried,” said Mahlawule.

Chavani, who has since changed her surname to Mashao, was arrested three years ago after allegedly kidnapping Hlulani and her one-month-old baby. The baby was found alive, but the mother has been missing since.

Early last year, a burnt body was found near the Nandoni Dam and this gave hope to the family that their loved one had been found at long last. Their hopes were dashed when DNA results showed that she was not the one.

 

Police control the crowd that had come to oppose bail during the appearance of the accused. 

 

Date:13 May 2017

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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