Mahlangu was forced to confess – lawyers

A lawyer who represented a man who together with his wife stand accused of murder says his former client made statements, alleged to be a confession under a hostile and aggressive interrogation while still in the lower court.

Nhlanhla Shongwe, who represented Lerato and Sibusiso Mahlangu at the magistrate's court before their matter went to Pretoria high court for trial, said Mahlangu had informed him that he felt threatened to make the statement.

“The information was given to me that my client made some statements, but not particular the statement. The information I got is that he made the statement and some pointing out but it was a word of mouth from the prosecutor. Me and the accused [during consultation] did not go into the details of the statement but he indicated that the conversation he had with the officer who took the statement [Ltd-Col] was aggressive. I was not told the specifics of the statement. The accused told me that the interrogation was hostile and aggressive,” Shongwe said.

Mahlangu claims he was forced to make the statement and told what to say and what not to say.

Prosecutor Vusimuzi Tshabalala argued that Mahlangu made the statement in his sober and sound senses.

“The version by the accused is an attempt to shy away from responsibility, and there is no evidence that suggests the statement was taken in an aggressive manner. The statement was made in his sober sound sense,” he said.

However, Mahlangu's high court lawyer, Nthabiseng Serabele, told the court that the confession was not made voluntarily.

“The Lt-Col seemed to have known what he wanted from the accused. The accused was also threatened by the fact that he was interrogated at night. The statement was not voluntarily made.

“He was not in his sober senses. The court witness [Shongwe] told the court about the interrogation,” she said.

However, judge Mokhine Masopa ruled the statements admissible.

The state alleges that the couple killed Sibusiso Sithebe, who was Lerato's boyfriend, then burnt his body.

The other allegation is that Lerato then passed off Sithebe's body as Sibusiso's and claimed more than half a million rand in an insurance payout.

The couple was arrested in April last year after Sibisuso Mahlangu was caught driving a suspected stolen car. It was when he was booked into custody that he allegedly told the police officers that he was registered as a dead person.

He and Lerato were charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and three counts of fraud.

The trial continues.