Benoni police officer, accomplice get life for murder
A police officer and his relative were sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a 28-year-old woman.
The Polokwane High Court handed a police officer from the Benoni Police Station, Thabo Moses Mokwana (43), and his relative, Modirela Maxwell Mokwena (45), each a life sentence on August 27 for the murder of Refiloe Gift Malope (28).
The pair were convicted of kidnapping, murder and defeating the ends of justice.
Malope’s body was found in a disused ventilation shaft in Benoni. This followed eyewitness reports that, on May 9, 2022, the two accused forced her into the boot of a sedan at the Kgaphamadi Village in Limpopo.
The police sergeant was arrested at work on June 21, 2022, and his accomplice was nabbed the next day at his hideout in the Apel (Limpopo) policing precinct.
The Benoni City Times previously reported that Malope’s body was spotted at the bottom of the mine shaft by using a specialised camera on June 24, 2022.
Also Read: UPDATE: Limpopo woman’s body found in a mineshaft
Retrieval efforts were delayed until specialised equipment could be sourced.
During the recovery, another unidentified body was retrieved from the same shaft.
The operation involved the Search and Rescue units from Benoni, Tshwane, Sedibeng and the West Rand, and the Tshwane K9 Unit, the Ekurhuleni and Tshwane municipality disaster teams, the Limpopo Provincial Organised Crime Unit, the Provincial Crime Scene Investigation and Hlogotlou, Limpopo detectives.
The case was investigated by Sergeant Florence Concilia Tlhatlha from the Provincial Organised Crime Unit.
Also Read: Benoni SAPS officer arrested for alleged kidnapping of Limpopo woman
