New twist in P3.9m theft mystery
Innocent Selatlhwa | Monday November 28, 2016 18:00
Thirty-five-year-old Zimbabwean man, Bhekizwe Nkomazana, employed as a gardener, was nabbed along with three Batswana accomplices, after allegedly illegally obtaining a Botswana birth certificate and alegedly masquerading as his late boss to steal at least P3.9 million from the deceased’s estate.
The four accused appeared before Extension II magistrate, Ntombizodwa Ncube last week charged with an elaborate scheme to hide the death of Tlhapane, assume his identity with a fake Omang, then strip his estate of cash and assets.
During Tlhapane’s funeral on Saturday, family representative Oupa Matsepe read a letter from Rustenburg Rusoord, the Rustenburg old age home where the family only discovered he was taken to through police investigations.
“Tlhapane was admitted on February 25, 2016. He was suffering from a mild illness and was taken to a doctor where he was discharged on March 14. He was admitted again in June when he could not eat by himself, he became very weak and passed away on August 10 (sic),” Matsepe read from the letter.
The letter continued to state that family was then informed and they came to collect the corpse. Matsepe out rightly dismissed that any family member was informed.
Investigating Officer (IO) Senior Superintendent Sergeant Marapo told court that the corpse had been kept at a South African mortuary since June 20 this year before being taken to Travellers Funeral Parlour in Tlokweng on September 1, 2016.
He had also told court that he went to the Tlokweng border to verify the arrival of the corpse on the said day whereupon he learnt that Nkomazana’s co-accused in the theft of the old man’s money, Ketshepile Lompehu had claimed to be the deceased’s daughter.
Speaking to The Monitor on the sidelines Matsepe said they were shocked at what happened and would do anything to help the police investigate the matter. “The letter is not helping, it brought more confusion to us, we however trust that the police will get to the bottom of this,” he said. Matsepe also expressed concern over the system in place when corpses are being repatriated. He said it should be in such a way that nobody could claim to be someone’s relative with no sufficient proof.
Meanwhile various speakers echoed of how Tlhapane was a big hearted, hardworking man whom many looked up to. It was revealed that together with his wife, the late Euphemia Tlhapane, famously known as the mother of Botswana lawn tennis and their two daughters, the 89-year-old came to Botswana in 1962 as refugees. He was the founding secretary general of ANC Youth League Sophiatown branch and had worked his path from being a salesman to running multi million pula companies.
His business partner, Zachariah Tolo, told of how Tlhapane was a dedicated businessman who was also deep rooted in the ANC. “He once hosted myself and Oliver Tambo in Botswana in 1946. He was also helpful as through his fresh produce shop at African Mall he would supply groceries to the ANC in Bontleng,” he said.
One of the daughters Itumeleng Tlhapane had brought Kopano Choir from Pretoria to bid her father farewell as he had asked her to do so a few years ago. She praised detective Marapo who broke the news to her.
“He has really been with us and he is doing a great job. We are confident that with the pace of the investigations, justice will prevail in due course,” she said.