Cops killed and dumped Setlampoloka � witness
Innocent Selatlhwa | Tuesday September 5, 2017 15:17
Setlampoloka was found dead on July 30, a day after he was arrested by police officers and put in the cells at the Mogoditshane Police Station. He had been arrested by the Serious Crimes Squad on suspicion of possessing guns used in a spate of robberies.
Six police officers who are suspects in the case; sub-Inspector Ranto Mmeleki, Constables Tebogo Khutsafalo, Kabo Ramohibidu, Michael Ramhibitswana, detective assistant Superintendent Dithuso Dintwe and Constable Patrick Gobotswang, are represented by Kgosietsile Ngakaagae and Busang Manewe.
Makhombe told court that he was present when Setlampola was strangled to death and then his body dumped in the bushes. “They were torturing both of us suffocating us until he died. They then called others telling them that Jordan had died. The others arrived and I was threatened with death. But, I asked them to spare my life and I would not say a word,” he said.
Makhombe said on the night of the incident, Mmeleki brought a power extension cable and made a noose before strangling Setlampoloka.
“He wanted it to seem as if Setlampoloka had committed suicide by hanging. They then ordered me to carry him to an Isuzu double-cab bakkie and ordered me to lie on the mat so that I could not see where we were headed. We came to a stop somewhere, but one of them insisted we move on because there was a car behind us. We then went into a bush where they ordered me to carry him out of the car and place him by a tree before we left Setlampoloka’s lifeless body there,” he said.
Makhombe said while they were on their way back to the police station, one of the officers received a call from the police station informing them that someone had reported that they saw a police van dump a dead body in the bushes.
“They then asked each other what to do with me and decided to leave me by the entrance of the police station and drove off,” he said. Makhombe said he went home, but the following day he was picked up and beaten black and blue by police officers from Mogoditshane and Old Naledi who kept telling him they knew that he knew what had happened to Setlampoloka.
Makhombe said the officers then took him to the hospital and dumped him there. “I then went to report to the then Ombudsman, who then referred me to the (then) police commissioner, Thebeyame Tsimako. After that, they took me to Broadhurst police station. I realised I was on the verge of dying and called the Ombudsman from the police cells informing him of my dire situation. He came to the station and after he left, they took me to Old Naledi police before I was dumped bare-footed near the Mogoditshane Police station,” he said.
However, defence attorneys comprising of Manewe and Ngakaagae rubbished his submissions. Manewe told court that they would this morning file an application requesting that the court orders the Ombudsman and the Commissioner of Police to furnish them with documents relating to the reports made by Makhombe in relation to the case.
“We also want the DCEC to furnish us with a report believed to have been filed by one Totti Vandi, alleging corruption involving the investigating officer as we hear Makhombe was paid to change his statement,” he said. Manewe said they needed these in order to prove to court that Makhombe was a pathological liar. He said Makhombe was not being harassed for any secret, but for crimes he was alleged to have committed, including house and shop break-ins.
He said Makhombe could not be trusted.
High Court Judge Leatile Dambe is presiding over the matter.