While the family of Karabo Mokoena were advised not to speak to the media, their relief was evident yesterday, after it was announced the young woman's alleged killer had been refused bail.
The moment that magistrate Carlo Labuschagne made his ruling, a woman in the court gallery shrieked with happiness before covering her mouth. Next to her, another woman, believed to be one of Mokoena’s relatives, burst into tears. She was later seen outside the courtroom weeping and thanking the investigating officer, Captain Philip Radebe.
Sandile Mantsoe stands accused of killing Mokoena - his girlfriend - after she went missing on April 28. Her charred remains were found soon after, in a shallow grave in Lyndhurst.
At a previous court appearance, the state detailed what it believed to be the bizarre motive behind Mokoena’s killing. While Mantsoe has denied this, Radebe claimed the accused provided a full confession, and that he killed Mokoena because they were tied together in a blood ritual. During the alleged confession, Mantsoe claimed that after the pair broke off their relationship, his business began to fail. To remedy this supposed jinx, he murdered the young woman.
Mantsoe, however, claimed that he found Mokoena’s body, believing she had committed suicide. In his panic, that he would be blamed for the killing, he admitted he was the one to dispose of her body and burn it.
Yesterday, at the Joburg Magistrate's Court, Mantsoe’s lawyer, Advocate Victor Simelane, argued that the State's case was weak and there was no indication that his client was a flight risk. He said the motive cited by Radebe made little sense, and that his client's business, as a forex trader, was “not insolvent”. He called the State's version a series of unsubstantiated allegations, and investigators admitted there was no forensic evidence linking Mantsoe to the killing.
The State insisted police never made such an admission and that Mantsoe, as an intelligent and wealthy man, could easily evade trial using his resources.
Magistrate Labuschagne sided with the State's argument that Mantsoe had failed to prove exceptional circumstances that would make him eligible for bail. He also called out Mantsoe for claiming he was co-operative with police but later saying he was coerced, by investigators, to reveal where he had placed the body. The contradiction proved a lack of credibility from Mantsoe, according to the magistrate, who believed the State had a strong case against the 27-year-old.
The case was postponed to July 28 for further investigation and instruction from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
@ShainGermaner