Johannesburg - The murder trial involving a saleswoman who was robbed of her jewellery, strangled and later burnt in her car took a bizarre twist on Wednesday when allegations of insurance fraud surfaced.
One of Nthabiseng Selesho’s alleged murderers, who insists he played no part in her killing, testified that the 23-year-old woman had, together with her killers, concocted a plan to defraud her insurance by deliberately having her car burnt and later claiming the money.
Ashley de Villiers said Selesho had allegedly also planned to steal her employer’s jewellery, worth R300 000. She had planned to say it had been stolen, then sell it privately.
Selesho’s boyfriend, Ketso Monaheng, who attended the trial in the high court sitting in Palm Ridge, said he couldn’t believe how low De Villiers could stoop in order to disassociate himself from the murder.
Monaheng said there could never have been insurance fraud because Selesho’s vehicle wasn’t insured and had been registered under her grandmother’s name.
“It’s actually very insulting. They’re stooping very low now and it’s a sign of desperation. I was appalled as I sat listening to him. It was unbelievable,” Monaheng said.
De Villiers is on trial with his fiancée Candice Prevost and Prevost’s former fiancé Wayne Williams.
De Villiers testified that Prevost had told him that she and Selesho had planned the insurance scam together.
De Villiers said he was at home the day Selesho arrived with the jewellery but he left the house shortly afterwards. At the time, Selesho was still alive.
Later, he received a call from Prevost, who said they should meet at Voortrekker Road in Alberton. He drove there and saw Prevost and Williams in Selesho’s car. Prevost got into his car and Williams drove them. They all went to Lenasia, where Williams burnt Selesho’s car.
De Villiers said he didn’t know at the time that Selesho was dead and her body was in the car. He said he had told Prevost that it was weird that Selesho’s car was being burnt.
“I asked her what was going on after the car had been set alight. She told me it was insurance fraud, and when the lady (Selesho) gets a payout, she (Prevost) was going to get half. She (Prevost) also told me that the lady had a private buyer for the jewellery,” he said.
As De Villiers testified, Prevost, who was sitting in the dock, kept looking at him and shaking her head.
De Villiers said he realised Selesho was dead only two days later when police officers arrived at their house to investigate.
Despite the fact that De Villiers claims he had nothing to do with the robbery and murder, it was revealed during the trial that he had sat on Selesho’s chest as she lay in the backseat of her car and strangled her.
It was also alleged that he had removed the jewellery from Selesho’s car and bought the petrol used to burn her body in the vehicle.
Williams’s legal representative, advocate Carla van Veenendaal, said his version was far- fetched, adding that De Villiers was involved in the murder but was trying to pin the blame on Prevost and Williams.
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