It has all the trappings of money, greed, family feuds, witchcraft, betrayal, hired hit men and the alleged execution of an innocent man.
Sixty-year-old Cordelia Velaphi Mogoerane (née Gasebone) and the five will appeared in the Gauteng South High Court on Monday, February 17.
It is alleged that they conspired to murder major-general Thekiso Mogoreane inside the house he shared with Velaphi and their 25-year-old son in Birchleigh on the night of January 16, 2018.
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According to testimony previously placed on record in the case, police suspect the motive for the murder was money – specifically a large pension payout that had been made to the victim prior to his death.
During previous court appearances, the state’s version included information put forward by the investigating officer, Captain Robert Mathebula – a detective from Germiston Crime Detectives. He alleged that a drugged and unconscious Thekiso was strangled to death while slumped in a dazed stupor on a sofa in the lounge of the family home.
In addition to the victim’s wife and the allegedly hired killers, police believe that more people were involved. These are described as “a female witch doctor from Wattville and the female owner of the vehicle transported the accused on that fateful night”.
According to Mathebula, the 40-year-old female owner of the vehicle was herself later ambushed and executed during a mysterious drive-by shooting in Vosloorus in July 2019 almost 18 months after Thekiso was killed.
All the accused have been granted bail and Monday’s court appearance will be their fourth during the trial.
Mathebula expects the trial to be lengthy.
According to Mathebula’s testimony, Thekiso became aware of the plot against him and took precautions to safeguard himself, but to no avail.
Police believe that the first attempt on his life was made by the witch doctor, who police believe was the first person approached to help kill Thekiso.
When the witch doctor’s muthi failed to end Thekiso’s life, he was reportedly left in a drugged state. This was when a second attempt on his life at the hands of two assassins reportedly took place. According to the SAPS, this failed and a third plan was set in motion by another team summoned to complete the job.
Still reeling with grief after the death of Thekiso, his other family members have nothing but praise for the police investigators.
Thekiso is the eldest brother of Thelle Mogoerane, after whom the Vosloorus hospital was named. Born in the old Stirtonville location where Reiger Park now stands, Thekiso and his family, along with thousands of others, were forcibly removed and relocated to the present day Vosloorus under the Group Areas Act.
Thekiso and Cordelia met between 1984 and 1985 when she was about 25 and he was 28. Cordelia was a clerk at the Department of Education and Thekiso was a political activist and operative within the ANC.
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One of the major highlights of their relationship played out in dramatic fashion when the love-smitten couple made history in the country’s apartheid courts when, in 1988, they instituted an urgent application allowing them to marry just before the young political activist was convicted and sent to Robben Island to serve his time with other political prisoners.
Kathorus MAIL will report from court today and keep readers informed.
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