The departing women, Segametsi Moleele and Maitumelo Makwate, were allegedly caught in a crossfire following an argument between alleged murderer, Gasebonno Boitumelo Makgasane and his co-worker Realotswe Bioko Kaisara.
The State alleges that Makgasane murdered Moleele, Makwate and Kaisara between February 2 and 4 in 2016 at Moletemane. According to the evidence presented in court this week, Makgasane said he murdered Kaisara because he (Kaisara) was involved in a sexual relationship with Dipuo Mokachela (Makgasane’s girlfriend).
Makgasane and Kaisara were herd boys at Gosiame and they lived together in the hostels within the farm. According to the evidence of one of the detectives who testified in court on Tuesday, Sergeant Mookodi, Makgasane murdered Moleele and Makwate out of fear in order to conceal evidence that he (Makgasane) had murdered Kaisara.
The accused allegedly murdered Kaisara on the same day that Moleele and Makwate arrived at Gosiame in the Tuli Block area after Kaisara had promised them jobs in the farm.
In his evidence in chief, Mookodi told Justice Bashi Moesi that he and other police officers went to Gosiame farm after they received a report that Makgasane and Kaisara had fought but Kaisara was nowhere to be found.
The court had also previously heard from Assistant Superintendent Goletwa Kethamile that the families of Moleele and Makwate were concerned about their whereabouts and safety after they made numerous calls to the duo but their cellular phones were not going through. Mookodi said upon arrival at the farm, Kewagamang Molao, who was also a herd boy at Gosiame, told them that he had found the badly decomposed body of Kaisara somewhere in the farm.
“We found a blood stained axe about four metres from where the decomposed body was dumped. Thereafter, we extended our search to where the deceased was staying in the farm and found a wheelbarrow which had some blood stains.
The body was later taken to Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital in Francistown for postmortem by Dr Shathani Mugoma. The body was later taken to Maape village for burial... Whilst still at the funeral, we received a phone call from Molao whom we had asked to help us to look for Moleele and Makwate. Molao told us that he had found another decomposed body in the farm.
The body was found tied to a trunk of a tree with a steel wire,” said Mookodi. Mookodi added that on February 6, 2016, the police went to Gosiame to extend their search for the missing women. “By that time the accused was still hospitalised in Bobonong. After he was discharged on February 10, 2016, we confronted him with allegations of murder. Makgasane voluntarily told us how he murdered Kaisara, Moleele and Makwate. He told us that he had a misunderstanding with Kaisara which stemmed from Kaisara having an amorous relationship with his girlfriend, Mokachela. The accused told us that he hit Kaisara with a log on the head and when Kasisara fell down, he took an axe and hacked him on the back of the head and thereafter, loaded him in a wheelbarrow and then dumped him in the nearby bush,” Mookodi stated. Narrating how Moleele and Makwate met their harrowing deaths, Mookodi stated that on February 3, 2016 at around 5pm, Makgasane told the police that Moleele and Makwate were brought to the farm by their uncle, Adolfus Makwate, to look for employment.
“After Adolfus left the ranch, the accused told us that he showed Moleele and Makwate a room where they were supposed to spend the night. Moleele and Makwate were supposed to clean the room because it was dirty. Makgasane told us he suspected that Moleele and Makwate may have seen the body of Kaisara before he dumped it. He told us that he suspected that Moleele and Makwate may have seen the body because they looked very scared after they got out of the house, hence he started to attack them.
The accused told us he hit Moleele with a log on the head and she fell to the ground in an unconscious state. Thereafter, he told us that he tied Makwate’s hands to her back and dragged her to the Limpopo River and pushed her into the River... On February 11, 2016 we went back to Gosiame to extend the search for Makwate.
We had enlisted the assistance of scuba divers from the Botswana Defence Force (BDF). They got into the river to look for Makwate at the spot where Makgasane told us he had pushed her down the river. They used their boats to scare the crocodiles. When we arrived, it became apparent that the river was infested with crocodiles... We came to the conclusion that Makwate might have been eaten by the crocodiles,” said Mookodi. The testimonies of other witnesses who testified before Mookodi were not materially different from what Mookodi said. Mookodi added: “The accused also told us that the cellphones of Moleele and Makwate were at the place of his other girlfriend, Ogomoditswe Mpona.
We went with Makgasane to Mpona’s place whereupon arrival he retrieved the cellphones from a crate inside the house.” The court had also previously heard that Makgasane drank a dip disinfectant after he allegedly committed the offences which led him to be hospitalised... He is also said to have told Mokachela that he was on his way to South Africa (SA). While it was not clear why Makgasane told Mokachela that he was on his way to SA, it is apparent that SA is a safe haven for Batswana and other foreigners who are facing murder charges in their home countries. The case continues.
