POLOKWANE – The wife of Moletjie businessperson Archie Manaka (43), Mapula Florah Manaka (40), has heard her fate in his murder trial.
Mapula appeared in the Limpopo High Court: Polokwane Division yesterday (August 16) to face charges of conspiracy to commit murder and murder.
She was arrested shortly after the night her husband was killed in April 2020.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Mamphaswa Seabi explained in a statement that Mapula, at the time of her husband’s death, reported that three men forcefully entered their house in Moletjie, Ga-Makweya, in the Seshego policing area.
“She reported that the robbers took an undisclosed amount of money and a laptop, and then fled the scene. Cases of murder and robbery were opened and a manhunt ensued,” Seabi explained.
He said a special task team was established and that Mapula, a 27-year-old man believed to be her boyfriend, and his accomplice were arrested shortly after.
“The third accused turned state witness, while the case against the boyfriend is yet to be finalised in court. We commend the investigating officer, Detective Sergeant Noko Mashitisho, who successfully opposed bail, which resulted that the accused were kept in custody until the finalisation of her trial,” Seabi added.
The high court heard that Mapula and her boyfriend planned the murder of her husband. “The accused was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment for murder and seven years for conspiracy to commit murder. The sentences will run concurrently, and thus, the accused will serve an effective 20 years’ imprisonment,” Seabi concluded.
