The High Court in Mahikeng has upheld the life sentences for two women convicted of murder after they helped abduct a man accused of theft and delivered him to a mob that killed him in Setlagole in 2019. Mathapelo Victoria Seichoko, 51, and Khantso Rosina Tlhalatsi, 60, lost their automatic appeal against both their convictions and sentences on 12 January 2026. Acting Judge Tebogo Juta Maodi ruled that the court a quo did not err in finding them guilty under the common-purpose provisions.
The incident occurred on 6 January 2019 when the appellants, along with co-accused and three boys, went to Madibogo to fetch Thabang Kabili, the deceased, who was accused of stealing items. Mbanyana Mothibinyana, the deceased’s girlfriend, testified that the group arrived at her home around 11am. When Kabili tried to escape through a window, three boys chased and caught him.
Mothibinyana testified that Seichoko, who was driving, assaulted the man when he refused to get into the vehicle. As they departed with Kabili, Tlhalatsi was ululating, according to testimony. Seichoko, a police sergeant since 2007, admitted under cross-examination that she knew “members of society who are tired of crime can take the law into their own hands.” Despite this knowledge and the deceased’s bleeding injuries, she did not deliver him to a police station.
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The court heard that upon returning to Setlagole, Seichoko stopped between her parents’ house and her husband’s house, where a crowd had gathered. She testified she told Kabili “that as the goods were recovered, there was no need to lay criminal charges against him” before leaving him with community members. Around 5pm on the day in question, Seichoko received a call that Kabili and another victim had returned to her husband’s house with injuries.
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