VEREENIGING. – The Vereeniging Magistrates Court heard on Thursday, April 19 that the hitman involved in the shooting of slain Riverside Teacher, Palesa Mofokeng, went back to the scene with a different car to make sure that she was indeed dead.
These revelations came in during a statement by an Investigating officer on the matter, revealing his reasons on why the quartet shouldn’t be granted bail.
Mzwanele Mazeke (36), suspected to be the hitman; Jabulani Thabethe (38), identified as the driver, Tumelo Ntholeng (34), Mofokeng’s ex-husband and a medical doctor; and Pakiso Makhaya (39), Ntholeng’s cousin – have been linked to the orchestrated murder alleged to be planned since September last year.
Sergeant Tlonki Matsose’s affidavit was solely focused on the testimonies made by some of the accused on the matter.
Matsose said accused number one, Jabulani Mazeke [the hit man] said in his testimony given on April 7 at about 13:48 confessed to Lieutenant Colonel Moremogolo, he was recruited in September last year by Makhanya acting on behalf of Ntholeng to kill Mofokeng.
“On 5 April around 17:00, Thabethe drove Mazeke to Makhanya’s workshop where Mazeke’s blue Honda vehicle was fitted with cloned number plates. Makhanya and another man drove to a Spar supermarket while Mazeke and Thabethe went to kill Mofokeng.
“After killing Mofokeng, Thabethe and Mazeke drove back to the workshop. There, the cloned number plates were removed replaced with the original, and was ordered to take the car to Sebokeng. Mazeke, Makhanya, and another man drove back to the scene in a VW Polo to confirm if the work was done,” said Matsose.
From the scene, they drove back to the workshop and dropped off the other man they were with, in the VW Polo.
Matsose added that after dropping off the other man, Mazeke and Makhanya drove to Sasolburg to meet with Ntholeng.
“They met Ntholeng at his rented storage in Sasolburg. The doctor paid Mazeke R20 000. From that money, Mazeke paid Thabethe R9 000 and took R11 000. He was arrested before he could receive the balance of the agreed R70 000 bounty.
“Bank records will show money transferred from Ntholeng to Makhanya to pay Mazeke as payment to kill the deceased. On Wednesday, I visited the workshop and Makhanya’s employee Tankiso Mokoena claimed they didn’t do any electronic invoices because their workshop didn’t have a computer and a printer,” Matsose said.
Giving his reasons for refusing the accused bail, Matsose said
“The motive to kill Mofokeng was motivated by financial gains. Should Mazeke be granted bail he will commit another crime for financial rewards. Thabethe, too, was involved because he wanted financial gains. He, too, would commit an offence should he be released.
“Ntholeng is a medical doctor practicing outside the country. He declined to reveal his employer and which country he is based. He used money to finance the execution of his ex-wife. The doctor’s passports reveal that he visited many countries since 2016. He spends most of his time away from South Africa. He arrived back on 18 March after leaving on 5 January,” Matsose said.
Matsose added that the men were flight risks.
“They carefully planned the murder. They also sought a car cloned with false number plates to evade arrest. To evade arrest, Mazeke fled to Sky City. He knew the police were looking for a blue Honda and instructed Thabethe to hide the car.
“If granted to bail, Mazeke will evade trial. He has several addresses in Gauteng and one in Msinga, KwaZulu-Nata. Witnesses fear for their safety. They are more witnesses willing to come forward but are afraid to give statements should the men be granted bail.
“Charges are severe because it was a carefully planned murder since 2023. If convicted, they could face life or long jail terms. Should they be released on bail, they could interfere and tamper with evidence,” Matsose added.
The police are awaiting bank statements, ballistic reports, cellphone conversations between the men, FICA statements, post-mortem report, CCTV footage of the crime, photos of the scene and fingerprints obtained from Mazeke’s Honda vehicle.
Ntholeng, Mazeke and Makhanya have brought their bail applications before Magistrate Chris Kruger.
Thabethe has since abandoned his bail application and are expected back in court on Monday to learn their fate.
