Gantsi murder: Echoes of a 20-year mystery

Maauwe and Motswetla (centre left and right) with family members PIC: DITSHWAELO
Maauwe and Motswetla (centre left and right) with family members PIC: DITSHWAELO

In 1997, two Basarwa men narrowly escaped the death penalty, in fact, by hours, after being wrongfully convicted for murder, in a case that exposed the justice system’s inherent biases to poor minorities. Staff Writer, MBONGENI MGUNI reflects as two Gantsi men prepare for their own death penalty ruling this week

Tlhabologang Maauwe and Gwara Motswetla, two men who did not know their exact birthdates, were illiterate and nearly exclusively spoke a Sesarwa dialect, are today engraved as milestones in the history of the local judiciary.

In 1997, media carried pictures of the gaping graves that had been prepared for the two, as a death sentence neared its execution. The two men were spared by a last minute legal challenge, escaping the hangman’s noose by a mere six hours.

Editor's Comment
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