Family paid ransom but found ‘only bones’
Five families will relive the ordeal as trial of alleged killer starts
● They took out loans to scrape together a few thousand rand to pay the ransoms, and even consulted prophets in a desperate bid to have their kidnapped family members returned. But it was all for nothing.
After the money was paid, the bodies of their loved ones were found dumped.
Five Tshwane families are reliving the ordeal as alleged serial killer Wellington Kachitza, 27, stands trial in the Pretoria high court.
Kachitza, a Zimbabwean allegedly living illegally in SA, faces five counts of murder, eight of kidnapping, eight of extortion, seven of robbery with aggravating circumstances, five of theft, two of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, and contravention of the Immigration Act.
The trial was due to start on Monday but was postponed to next week after Kachitza tested positive for Covid and was unable to prepare with his lawyer.
Mankitseng Magoro, the aunt of victim Tibatso Mogoatlhe, said Tibatso’s mother, Magdeline Mogoatlhe, had died without seeing justice for her son.
“My sister died of a heart attack only three months after we buried the boy,” Magoro said. “Deep down it was hurting, for her only son to die such a tragic death.”
Magoro said Tibatso’s work colleagues told her he was picked up by a person in a red Range Rover on November 25 2019.
He had started a job as a security guard at a fast-food outlet in Silverton three weeks earlier, and was renting a room in Mamelodi.
Magoro said his mother had received calls from a man demanding money on the day Tibatso disappeared.
“He demanded R3,000. She told them she didn’t have money but he said if she doesn’t send the money they will kill Tibatso. In the background she could hear her son pleading with her to make a plan.”
Magoro said her sister, a retired domestic worker, managed to borrow R2,000 and transferred it to her son’s bank account.
A neighbour, who is a member of the police, helped Tibatso’s mother register a missing person’s case at Makapane, Hammanskraal, after the kidnapper demanded more money.
Tibatso’s phone was turned off the day after he disappeared, after his family failed to send more money. Three weeks later they were called to identify his body.
Police found his body in December at a hilly area between Eersterust and Mamelodi. When the family arrived at the police station “we found only bones”.
A second victim, petrol-pump attendant Rendani Maphiri, was last seen on October 8 2019, leaving the garage where he worked in Sunnyside, Pretoria, with an unidentified man.
His brother, Bright Maphiri, said he was at work when he received a call from his brother saying he had been kidnapped.
“The kidnapper immediately snatched the phone. I thought he was joking. He told me: ‘I have kidnapped him and this is how I work.’ He said he wanted R5,000,” Maphiri said.
Maphiri immediately notified police and opened a case. “I sent him R1,500 through eWallet and R500 through PEP+ and then another R200 through eWallet,” he said.
He used his savings to pay the ransom, and his family took out loans and consulted prominent prophets who promised that Rendani would come home safely.
Desperate for news, the family sought the help of private investigator Chris Craucamp.
Rendani’s body was found on October 16 2019, also in a hilly area in Eersterust, by a pastor who helped with the search.
Maphiri said: “On 24 October 2019 he [Craucamp] informed us that he had picked up the identity of the woman who withdrew the money at Eersterust and subsequently met the guy [the suspect], who was wearing a cap that they suspected belonged to Rendani.”
Kachitza was arrested on January 8 2021 after a cellphone used to make one of the ransom calls was traced.
Maphiri said Rendani had been saving to pay for tuition at Unisa, hoping to study law. He said his family wanted justice and a harsh sentence. “We don’t understand his motive or whether he was working alone. What were his reasons? We are confused.”
Police said they were unable to comment until the case has been finalised.
The other three murder victims are Mswazi Tibane , Jonas Makgabo and Steven Masingo.