Karabo’s friend tells of violent relationship

A FRIEND of Karabo Mokoena, who was allegedly killed by her boyfriend, Sandile Mantsoe, told the Johannesburg High Court yesterday she had witnessed violent incidents between them.

Mantsoe is facing charges of murder, assault with intent to do grievous body harm, murder and defeating the ends of justice.

Mokoena’s friend, Puleng Mthethwa, said she had last seen her alive on March 19, 2017 in Soweto.

Mokoena and Mantsoe were sitting across from her and she went to say hello.

“Sandile grabbed my arm and said why am I not greeting him first as the head of their household?

“I then took Karabo (away) and later took her back to Sandile,” said Mthethwa, adding that at one point during the relationship she spent time with the couple every weekend.

“In the beginning they were a loving couple, until I saw incidents happen,” said Mthethwa.

“The first incident was when Sandile smashed her phone when Karabo refused to let him put his fingerprint on her iPhone…

“Sandile said he would count to 10 and if she didn’t give him the phone, he would smash it.”

Earlier, Mokoena’s sister Bontle told the court that while looking for her sister after she disappeared, she had seen security footage of her entering and leaving Mantsoe’s residence.

Mantsoe had “fed” her many stories about Karabo’s whereabouts, including suggesting she liked booking hotel stays, and had gone off with a Nigerian man, Bontle added.

After Mantsoe was arrested, her tearful mother had asked him where her missing daughter was, and he answered: “I don’t know, Mamzo, but I didn’t kill her.”

Bontle said the relationship between Mantsoe and Karabo had begun in 2016 and lasted eight months before the pair broke up before her birthday on March 27.

On Karabo’s birthday, the family couldn’t get hold of her, until she called the next day to say she was in hospital with injuries sustained when Mantsoe allegedly assaulted her.

“One of her eyes, a leg and a shoulder were bruised,” Bontle said. “I took her back to Mantsoe’s apartment and told her to take her stuff and we’d go home.”

Bontle said she and some companions had looked for her sister at Mantsoe’s residence, where they viewed video footage of Karabo entering and leaving the building.

A security guard showed her Karabo’s passport and identity document, found in a dustbin at the complex.