Pretoria - Onthatile Sebati told the Gauteng High court, Pretoria, yesterday that she confessed to orchestrating the hit on her family to the police as she was scared of being assaulted and going to jail for life.
Sebati took the stand to testify in the trial-within-a-trial relating to the submission of confession statements, allegedly made by her and her two co-accused shortly after they were arrested in December 2021.
The 21-year-old told the court she was arrested by police on December 16, 2021, and that she was found at her ex-boyfriend’s place.
She testified she had trouble remembering some of the details after her arrest as she had smoked crystal meth.
Sebati said that after her arrest, she did not recall much of what happened afterwards except that she “came to” in the presence of Colonel Isaac Tlhapi, who informed her that she had confessed to involvement in the murder of her entire family.
She was not provided with the notice of rights by the police, she said, and stressed that they were also not explained to her as she was told to read them at her own discretion.
The court heard that on December 17, Sebati was booked out of the cells at the Hartebeespoort Dam Police Station and instructed by Tlhapi to accompany the police to where her co-accused lived in Soshanguve and in Mmakau.
She said during the trip, police had from time to time requested she lay down in the back of the vehicle so she could not be seen.
And although Sebati claimed she saw the third accused, Kagiso Mokone, being arrested while lying in the back, she said she did not see Mokone being assaulted by the police.
Mokone said he was arrested on December 17, 2021 at a resort in Brits by three officers, including Tlhapi.
Before the arrival of the police, he said, he received a call from his mother informing him that the police were looking for him in relation to a stolen cellphone.
He again reiterated what his legal counsel had told the court that after being arrested by the police they proceeded to assault him with open hands on his thighs, trying to force him to confess to participating in the murder of the family.
He said he was assaulted by three officers who accused him of being stubborn for refusing to co-operate. They also tried to force him to take out the firearm, which he claimed he had no knowledge of, he said.
Mokone testified he saw Sebati in the back of the Quantum during his arrest in Brits.
The matter continues today.
Pretoria News