‘Insurance killer’ pleads not guilty

Attorney Nkosana Ngwenya briefing his client Thato Tsametse.PIC.KENNEDY RAMOKONE
Attorney Nkosana Ngwenya briefing his client Thato Tsametse.PIC.KENNEDY RAMOKONE

Trial has begun in a case in which Thato Tsametse has been charged with murder of his teenage cousin back in March 2018 allegedly for insurance claims valued at P50,000.00. Despite the fact that Tsametse had reportedly got him arrested by sharing his story with traditional healers who then reported him to the Police, he has pleaded not guilty.

The trial began before Lobatse High Court’s Justice Modiri Letsididi with at least 10 State witnesses. Amongst those who gave evidence was popular traditional healer Kamogelo Keitholetse also known as Rabeisane. He together with his nephew and fellow medicine man Lemogang Rukuyo told court of how visibly distraught Tsametse was when he came to seek to be cleansed for claiming human life.

Though theRE were some clashes in their statements, the duo told court that Tsametse sought their services for the first time and went back as he had paid only P1000 of the required P1500 according to Keitholetse or P1600 according to Rukuyo. He would then come back again a week later only for them to call the police on him while he was still taking a bath they prepared for him.

Attorney Nkosana Ngwenya who represents Tsametse argued that the evidence from the two were contradictory to each other and that they were also not as written on their initial statements. He argues that the duo’s evidence was not good enough as they also failed to ascertain who Tsametse said he had killed. Ngwenya also argued that his client visited the healers to help him as he wanted to know why he was suspected to have killed someone and not seek protection from the law. They however, maintained that he told them he had killed someone.


It turns out that on the same day he was arrested, Tsametse would take the police to a certain driving school in Mogoditshane where he showed them shoes he allegedly wore when he killed his cousin. The driving school owner Keemenao Sekgele told court that the police came with the accused person on 20th March 2018 and he pointed out where he had hidden the shoes in the nearby bushes. Trial continues.

Editor's Comment
Inspect the voters' roll!

The recent disclosure by the IEC that 2,513 registrations have been turned down due to various irregularities should prompt all Batswana to meticulously review the voters' rolls and address concerns about rejected registrations.The disparities flagged by the IEC are troubling and emphasise the significance of rigorous voter registration processes.Out of the rejected registrations, 29 individuals were disqualified due to non-existent Omang...

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