Suspect accused of killing girlfriend remanded in custody

Limpopo spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi said the woman’s bullet-riddled body was found inside a motor vehicle in the parking area.

PRETORIA, May 18 (ANA) – A 34-year-old man, Kibi Josias Leboho, appeared in court on Tuesday after he was arrested last month for allegedly fatally shooting his girlfriend in a supermarket parking lot where she was in a vehicle with another man.

Limpopo spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi said Leboho allegedly shot the woman in the parking area of a supermarket on the corner of Grobler and Landdross Mare streets in Polokwane.

“The bullet-riddled body of a woman, Tshepo Rakoma, 32, was found inside a motor vehicle in the parking area. It is alleged that when Leboho arrived at the shopping centre, an argument ensued between the two and he took out a firearm and shot the woman several times. She died instantly,” said Malabi-Dzhangi.

“Leboho went to the third floor of the nearby building and threatened to kill himself. He was later arrested by the police, who recovered on him a firearm believed to have been used in the murder.”

Malabi-Dzhangi said the firearm allegedly belonged to a taxi owner, Khazamula Steven Mathebula.

“In a separate matter, Mathebula was charged with negligent loss of firearm and will appear again in court on 13 July 2021. Leboho’s matter was postponed to 26 May 2021, and he was remanded in custody,” said Malabi-Dzhangi.

The latest quarterly crime statistics released earlier this month by Police Minister Bheki Cele showed that in three months, 4,976 people were killed in South Africa as the country’s murder rate continued its climb after the brief respite brought on by the Covid 19 lockdown.

Murders, nationally, increased by 8.4%, fuelled in part by dramatic rises in the number of killings in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. In the Eastern Cape, the number of murders increased by 21.5% from January to March 2020 compared to the same time the following year. KwaZulu-Natal saw an increase of 16.9% over the same period.

Gauteng’s murder rate increase was just under 4%. The Gauteng police station with the highest number of murders between January and March this year was Ivory Park, with 40 killings.

– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher