A neighbour of fraud and murder-accused Sibusiso Mahlangu has told of how local community members came out in their numbers to fight the 2021 fire at his Soshanguve home that was previously thought to have claimed his life.
She also relayed their shock when he returned to the property, alive and well, albeit in handcuffs, with the police last month.
“We thought we were seeing a ghost,” she said.
Mahlangu was arrested last month after he was pulled over driving a suspected stolen vehicle.
He and his wife, Lerato Mahlangu, have since been charged with murder, defeating the ends of justice, and fraud.
It’s believed they killed a man thought to be Lerato’s ex, Sibusiso Sithebe, and staged Mahlangu’s death in a fire at their RDP home using Sithebe’s burnt remains.
Lerato allegedly later claimed life insurance policies in her husband’s name.
Almost a year and a half after the fire, said to have taken place late on New Year’s Eve in 2021, the home is now abandoned, the interior stripped bare, and the backyard levelled.
‘A REGULAR-LOOKING COUPLE’
A neighbour, who asked that her identity be withheld, told the publication she was sleeping when the fire started and awoke to a commotion outside.
“Someone was shouting: fire, fire,” she said.
She said when she reached the house, it looked as though the blaze had started in the kitchen.
“The fridge was turned and the gas was exposed so it could have blasted the whole house apart,” she added, saying she hadn’t thought anything of it at the time, but now suspected it might have been deliberate.
Fortunately, the community managed to put out the flames relatively fast, she said.
Through the window, they could see a body in the bedroom and, suspecting it was Mahlangu’s, they phoned Lerato.
“She said she was in Mpumalanga but would Uber here, and asked us not to touch anything. Within 30 minutes she was here,” she said.
She never saw either of them again.
A funeral was held for Mahlangu at his family home, but she said the neighbours were asked not to go.
Mahlungu was an events photographer, and it is understood Lerato worked in finance.
The neighbour described them as friendly and well-dressed, especially Mahlangu.
“He was killing it,” she said.
Overall, she said, they seemed like a regular couple.
They made their second appearance in the dock of the Soshanguve Magistrates Court this week, and are due back on 18 May to apply for bail.
-EWN
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