Pretoria - The first accused and alleged hit man in the Sebati family murder trial yesterday claimed that police promised him he would be acquitted if he wrote down a statement implicating the other accused as instructed.
Tumelo Mokone is alleged to be one of two hit men who killed Constable Lucky Sebati, along with his wife Mmatshepo and two children, Tshegofatso and Quinton, on December 6, 2016, in what was initially thought to be a home invasion.
This changed when the family’s sole surviving daughter, Onthatile Sebati, who was alleged to be the mastermind who hired cousins Kagiso and Tumelo Mokone to do the hit, allegedly confessed five years later.
Mokone, taking to the stand yesterday, said after he handed himself over to the police on December 18, 2021, the investigating officer, Colonel Isaac Tlhapi, told him that the police had already arrested Onthatile Sebati and Kagiso Mokone, the alleged second hit man.
He said the officer informed him that the others had already made confession statements linking him to the family killing, and all they wanted from him was a statement.
Mokone further testified in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria yesterday that Tlhapi told him that the police were not looking for him as all they wanted was Sebati and the other accused, and that should he co-operate with the police, he would be released.
“He (Tlhapi) promised me that when this matter is finalised I would not be found guilty and that (on) Monday, during the bail application, he would oppose bail for the other two accused, but he would not oppose my bail.
“The officer explained to me that if I did not work with him things would turn sour for me, as the other two had already given confessions and if I didn’t make a statement I would not be given an opportunity to explain myself before a judge.”
Following that, he said Tlhapi handed him over to another officer referred to as Captain Dlamini to take down the statement. However, he said the officer had refused him the opportunity to contact his legal counsel.
Captain Dlamini was the State’s first witness, and testified that he had taken down Mokone’s statement only after the suspect had informed him that he had been given the go-ahead by his legal counsel.
This was refuted yesterday by Mokone, who said despite insisting that he wanted legal representation, Captain Dlamini said he would be able to see his legal counsel on Monday in court.
He stressed that his constitutional rights were not read out to him and that the officer, who spoke to him aggressively, simply instructed him to sign the documents before him.
The matter will continue today, with the state to begin with its cross-examination.
Pretoria News