Three men, two of them brothers, appeared in the Middelburg High Court on a charge of murder. They were accused of strangling a Hendrina resident per request of a fourth suspect yet to be charged. Two of them opted to plead guilty, revealing how the murder was allegedly committed.

Mavuso Philani Dlamini, his brother Bethual Mzwakhe Dlamini, and George Simbanyane Mambane were accused of conspiring to murder Sibokane Lyve Lerutle in Hendrina on January 29, 2019.

Mavuso Dlamini and Mambane pleaded guilty to the charge of murder after reaching a plea deal with the state. In the plea deal, both Dlamini and Mambane agreed to testify against Bethual Dlamini, who did not enter a plea on the charges against him.

Dlamini and Mambane were consequently found guilty by Judge Johanna Mthimunye and sentenced to 25 and 18 years in prison, of which five and three years were suspended.

Bethual Dlamini opted to go on trial and will face a life sentence if convicted on the testimony of his co-accused.

According to court testimony, Mambane was approached by another suspect, who has not been formally charged, to murder Lerutle.

Mambane then allegedly approached the two Dlamini brothers in a murder-for-hire plot to carry out the ambush.

On January 29, 2019, the two Dlamini brothers allegedly ambushed Lerutle at his Hendrina home, where they strangled him. They then attempted to hang his body from a roof beam but failed to accomplish the task due his size and dead weight.

It is alleged they attempted to clean the scene with a mop, which was left outside the home for the police to find.

Lerutle’s blood was also found on one of the suspect’s clothes during the forensic investigations.

The police pounced on Mambane and the Dlamini brothers after eyewitnesses placed them at the home of Lerutle shortly before the murder.

Mambane, police were told, had a close relationship with the remaining suspect, who allegedly planned the assassination.

Apart from testifying against the remaining Dlamini brother, both convicted murderers also agreed to testify against the fourth party, yet to be arrested and charged.

Advocate Derik Rowles appeared on behalf of the state.