Tebejana Family Finally Buries Son�s Remains

Pini Bothoko | Monday February 5, 2018 12:20

 

The lifeless body of Mopati Tebejana, 28, was found hanging from a tree in the bush at Lephaleng lands, a few kilometres from Thamaga village on January 14, 2018.

Tebejana was suspected of killing his girlfriend, Cecilia July, 33, whose badly decomposed body was discovered dumped in the bushy outskirts of Tlokweng village on November 3, 2017. The Monitor team went to Thamaga to meet the Tebejana family.

Even though it took The Monitor team close to an hour to locate the Tebejana family late Thursday, the team finally had an opportunity to sit down and have a calm conversation with the cordial family.

On arrival The Monitor team found Tebejana’s mother Golebaone Pule sitting under a morula tree, having a chat with her sister-in-law Bontsi Mosweu. After greeting the senior citizens, Tebejana’s elderly father Boynyana Pule, walked slowly due to old age to join in.

The hospitable family offered The Monitor team chairs and listened to what brought this publication to their home. Immediately, the elder sister to Tebejana walked in, grabbed a chair and greeted us with a welcoming voice.

After telling her what brought the team over to their home, the concerned sister who preferred anonymity appeared to be pained by the loss of her younger brother. She opened up and narrated the sad tragedy that recently befell their family. “It was on November 4th when Thamaga police came here with a man who claimed to be called ‘James’, who said he was working for Security Systems Company, where my brother was working.

The man said he was looking for Mopati, I told them he was not around and that I hadn’t talked to him for days. I also told them that Mopati resided in Tlokweng. They went back without saying anything,” Tebejana’s sister said.

She stated that even though the police were adamant that they do not know why James was looking for Tebejana she felt a little bit worried and concerned.

“I tried to phone my brother, but his phone rang unanswered, I just thought he will return the phone call. After two days without hearing from my brother, I decided to phone Tlokweng Police Station and the police told me that they are looking for my brother, and revealed that he was a suspect as his girlfriend was found murdered and dumped in the bush. I was shocked, and asked myself where my brother was and if indeed he could be linked to someone’s death.

He was a well-behaved young man and even in his teenage days he could not fight nor quarrel with his mates. Growing up during his school days, my brother displayed good behaviour.  He was a prefect at Sekgele Junior Secondary School, even at Moshupa Senior Secondary School,” she said.

She said that even after telling them that her brother was a suspect in a murder case, Tlokweng police spent almost two months without contacting them but all the time she tried to locate him by calling Security Systems company offices. They also said they were looking for him as he last came to work on October 2, 2017.

“I got even more worried, because ever since the police told me he was a suspect his phone rang without an answer.

I then contacted all of my relatives, informed them about the matter and asked them to help us to locate him. On December 23 a certain woman phoned me claiming she was from OK Furniture. She said she was looking for Mopati, and revealed that he owed them P4,000 and had not been paying for months. I told them we still have a matter at hand I would contact them soon,” she said.

She said that on December 24 she received a phone call informing her brother was a wanted person on Itshireletse show on Botswana Television.

“We had a sad Christmas and New Year, not knowing where Mopati was, whilst his phone was ringing without an answer.

On December 27 when I came back home, my mother told me two men came claiming that they were agricultural demonstrators and wanted to visit out fields and they went with them only to realise that they were not telling the truth, because on arrival they searched all houses, kicked doors and turned our houses upside down looking for Mopati,” she said.

She revealed that the police also visited her aunt’s place and did the same thing, harassing, kicking and forcefully opening doors. She, however, disclosed how unhappy she was due to the behaviour that the police displayed, especially tricking her elderly parents at masimo and turning their home upside down.

“What they did was rude, and unprofessional, because the family was also helping them to locate Mopati. They accused the family of hiding Mopati, claiming that they heard that we had a Christmas party at my cousin’s place and Mopati was there, hence suspecting my parents knew of where he was hiding,” she said.

She said ever since then, the police have been tormenting her with phone calls, saying that they want her brother and that the family should tell them where he is.

“We had sleepless nights wondering what the police would do to us, or what they would do to Mopati if they found him. Whilst still in that confusion on Sunday, January 14, I received a phone call from Thamaga police requesting the family to come to the police station the next day. 

Together with my mother early in the morning we went to the station and on arrival the police told us that they received a report that some remains were found at Lephaleng lands. We went to the scene and discovered remains of a person, his clothes and other belongings. They wanted us to identify them since we had opened a missing person’s case,” she said.

She said that though the lifeless body was just bones she managed to identify her brother by his unique teeth. “I was scared, traumatised, but I felt strong enough to hold the skull to look for his unique teeth. Even though we had not collected postmortem and DNA results, I was confident that those bones belonged to my brother.  The police searched his trousers and found his Omang and mobile phone inside the pocket,” she said.

She said the family is still reeling in pain and shock following what transpired. She said that at the funeral, a man who was Mopati’s landlord in Tlokweng told mourners that the last time he saw him was when he was driving his friend’s car.

“He said Mopati told him, ‘Ah ke kobile ngwanyana yole. Ke ntse ke tswa go dropa dilwana tsa gagwe’. He said that day, his children told him they saw Mopati loading a big bag inside the car and drove away early in the morning,” she said.

When July’s decomposed body was discovered it was wrapped with a blanket in a big bag. Then, the police also said they suspected the body was off-loaded from a car, as there were car tyre marks near where she was abandoned.

Tebejana’s sister, however, said it is important for the two families (the Tebejana and July) to meet and talk because ever since the tragedy they have never met.

“I believe there is a need for us to meet as parents to find closure following what transpired. Both families do not know what happened and I believe we should not point fingers at each other. If indeed Mopati did what he is suspected to have done, he would have disappointed the family. We’re still waiting for DNA tests to clarify whether the DNA found in the condoms found inside the bag that his girlfriend’s corpse was found inside of, was his,” she said.