First to take the witness stand was Tsogwane’s grandmother Kegomoditswe Semathane who stayed with her. Asked what he knew about the relationship between the two, the old woman said that she knew the two were lovers and that Basupi had even paid for her granddaughter to further her education. She however, was quick to point out that Basupi was abusive of her grandchild. “He used to abuse her very badly that he would even assault her inside my home in my presence. It happened so many times that I lost count. We would call the police to intervene in most cases,” she said. Semathane said the situation was so bad that she then told Basupi to never come to her place. She said even after that, Tsogwane would tell her she was still seeing Basupi as she would still tell her she was going to his place. She said the two would then break up and a reconciler meeting organised by Basupi’s parents would not bear fruit as Tsogwane said she was done with Basupi who had left her and now wanted her back. The words were reiterated by another witness Francis Semathane who is Tsogwane’s uncle.
The old woman said she last saw her granddaughter alive on March 10, 2012 when she told her she was going to the salon to do her hair. Tsogwane’s friend Francinah Moyo said she was there when the relationship began in 2008. “It started off as a beautiful relationship especially in the first year. However, things went south as they proceeded. Basupi would assault Tsogwane even for non-issues until they broke up at the beginning of 2012,” she said. She said in one instance, Basupi attempted to drag Tsogwane out of a club to assault her accusing her of cheating with a certain guy called Mendy. She said at the time, Mendy was still pursuing Tsogwane. Moyo said after the break-up, Basupi pleaded with her to talk to Tsogwane as he could not stand being without her. She said she tried but would not succeed as Tsogwane said she was fed up with the abuse. On cross-examination, Basupi’s attorney Phillip Leitshamo quizzed why Moyo would want to convince Tsogwane to be with an abusive man and why they never reported the matter to the police. She said Basupi had told her that if they do not get back together, he would commit ‘passion killing’ and kill himself. She said Tsogwane never wanted to report because she did not want Basupi to lose his job. Another friend, Kedibone Matlhape who worked in a salon, then spoke highly of the love between the two despite the assaults stating that Basupi even paid for her further studies and showered her with presents.
