Pretoria – A woman accused of masterminding her cop husband’s murder has been denied bail by the Emalahleni Magistrate’s Court.
Patricia Mabojane Kutu, 28, has been implicated in the murder of Sergeant Joseph Christopher Kutu who was attached to the SAPS Tactical Response Team in Witbank, and fatally shot in his home on the evening of July 24, 2021.
“The accused was denied bail and remanded in custody. The case was postponed to 11 February 2022, to be joined with her co-accused Vincent Bongonkosi Langa (39) and Xolani Peter Ndabezitha (39). Investigation continues,” said Hawks spokesperson in Mpumalanga, Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi.
Patricia who worked as a court interpreter and Langa were arrested on December 14 and December 16, respectively,.
Sekgotodi said the suspects were nabbed after intelligence-driven information was received about the whereabouts of the suspect who was wanted for a house robbery and murder of a police officer.
“The operation was conducted at a house in Siyabuswa A, where the suspect was found and arrested at the back room of the house where he was renting. Further investigation was conducted, and the late member’s wife was later arrested,” Sekgotodi said at the time,” she said at the time.
Accused number one in the matter abandoned his bail application last month.
Meanwhile, two department of justice employees, Portia Majola, 55, an administration clerk at the Secunda Magistrate’s Court, and Thokozile Sophie Nofuya, 55, an administration clerk at the Evander Magistrate’s Court, have had their fraud and theft case postponed to February 1 to allow for legal representation. The duo appeared in the Secunda Magistrate’s Court last month and were remanded on warning.
"It is alleged that during November 2020, the duo colluded and submitted fraudulent claims for witnesses’ transport allowance on behalf of the witnesses who were not even in court on the days written on the documents, and the accused also did not attach prosecutor`s certificates on the forms,“ Sekgotodi said.
"Internal investigation was established, and the witnesses were interviewed, and they confirmed that they were not in court on the days mentioned on the submitted documents.
A case was opened and transferred to the Hawks Serious Commercial Crime Investigation Secunda for further investigation. During the investigation, the duo were linked to the crime and the department was found to have suffered a loss amount of R15 000.
IOL