‘I did not kill Karabo Mokoena’ – Mantsoe
JOHANNESBURG — Alleged murderer Sandile Mantsoe has denied allegations made by the investigating officer that he had admitted to killing his ex-lover Karabo Mokoena, saying that he had been coerced into writing a statement by a female officer who threatened him.
In a replying affidavit read out yesterday afternoon by his new legal representative, Victor Simelane, in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court, Mantsoe said that, on his arrest, he was detained at the Sandton police station and questioned by an unidentified woman. The 27-year-old said that the woman had made threats to him, telling him that if he didn’t co-operate with her, she would call other male detectives who would assault him.
Mantsoe said in his affidavit that he was made to write out his statement three times, and even when he went with police to go and point out where the body was, he still feared that he would be assaulted if he didn’t co-operate.
“No rights were read to me, even when I was told to make a statement, and I still deny telling police that I didn’t know where the body was. I told them everything after they threatened me,” said Mantsoe in his replying affidavit.
He said that he did not confess to killing Mokoena, as such a confession would have been made to the commissioner of oaths.
In an affidavit read out on May 24, the investigating officer alleged that Mantsoe had submitted to a commissioner of oaths that he had killed his ex-lover and burnt her body using petrol, swimming pool acid, and a tyre, a claim he denied yesterday.
Mantsoe also denied that he shared a matching tattoo of a crucifix with Mokoena, saying that the court could refer to police for pictures that were taken on their camera for evidence as proof of this.
The investigating officer had claimed in his affidavit that Mantsoe had the same tattoo of a cross just under his collar bone. Furthermore, he denied claims that he had mixed his blood with Mokoena’s in a strange ritual aimed at enriching his business, saying that although his business was up and down, he was able to meet his obligations.
In the affidavit presented by the investigating officer, it was alleged that Mantsoe and Mokoena had mixed their blood to increase the success of his business, and that Mantsoe had killed Mokoena to break a jinx that saw his business performing poorly after their break-up in April.
Mantsoe said that the investigating officer had not mentioned where the supposed ritual took place, or the facts around it, and had failed to provide pictures of his supposed tattoo.
Mantsoe took the court into confidence and conceded that the two of them had been in an on-and-off relationship, due to her “temperamental personality”, saying that they started dating casually in October 2016, and that they had broken up two days before his birthday in November, before reconciling again. He admitted that he picked up Mokoena at her home in Diepkloof, Soweto, on April 27.
“I maintain that I did not kill Karabo Mokoena, there was no premeditated killing of her,” read his legal representative, as Mantsoe looked straight ahead.
Mantsoe also said that he has not, and will not, make any threats to anyone, and added that he had not heard of any threats that have been made to him. He asked to be released on bail in the interests of justice, saying that he did not believe that his release would cause public outrage or result in people taking the law into their own hands.
Simelane explained that the previous attorney who had handled Mantsoe’s bail application was not present, however, Magistrate Carlo Labuschagne did not want to delay the application further, saying that heads of arguments had to be presented soon. Mantsoe is due to appear in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court again on June 30. — Sapa