A state witness took the stand this week to give evidence of what he says he witnessed at a donga in Thaba-Bosiu eleven years ago: the methodical killing of two Ministry of Health nurses with a stone, carried out by a man he had known as his friend. His testimony left the courtroom in silence.
Setsokotsane Majalle, an accomplice who was subsequently acquitted and turned state witness for the Crown, told the High Court this week that he was present when Lefa Mabusela allegedly robbed and bludgeoned to death nurses Mpho Khutsoane and Mathebane Ramatabooe on the night of 11 August 2014. His evidence in chief, delivered under examination and cross-examination, described in harrowing detail the sequence of events that prosecutors allege culminated in one of the most brutal double murders in Lesotho’s recent criminal history.
Mabusela has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and one count of armed robbery. The indictment alleges that he unlawfully and intentionally killed both women and robbed Ms Khutsoane of her blue Volkswagen Golf 4. The trial is proceeding before the High Court.
“Mpho managed to stand up and grabbed him around the waist. There was a struggle and she called for my help, but I felt weak and terrified. Then I heard a gunshot.”
State witness Setsokotsane Majalle, testifying before the High Court
The deceased and the accused
Ms Khutsoane was employed at the Ministry of Health headquarters in Maseru. Ms Ramatabooe was based at Motebang Hospital in Leribe. On the night in question, both women were attending a professional workshop at Mmelesi Lodge in Thaba-Bosiu. They were, according to the witness, known to both him and the accused as their respective girlfriends. The Crown’s case is that what began as a contrived romantic reunion ended in premeditated murder and robbery.
The events as testified
Mr Majalle told the court that he and Mabusela crossed into Lesotho from Bloemfontein on the evening of 11 August 2014 and made contact with the two women by telephone. On the witness’s account, Ms Khutsoane suggested they meet at Ha-Leqele because she could not see well at night. The four subsequently met in Maseru, where Ms Khutsoane handed her car keys to Mr Majalle and asked him to drive. The women sat in the rear of the vehicle. Mabusela took the front passenger seat. The stated destination was Mmelesi Lodge.
The witness testified that after the vehicle crossed the Ha Makhoathi bridge, Mabusela directed him to stop, claiming urgency of nature. Ms Ramatabooe, he said, told the accused they were almost at the lodge and that he could wait. Mabusela insisted. After alighting briefly, he returned to the vehicle and produced a firearm.
“He pointed the gun at me without saying anything,” Mr Majalle testified. “The ladies were busy talking about how handsome he looked and did not realise what was happening. When they saw my face, they screamed and asked what was going on.” The accused, he said, ordered him to cut the engine. The group was then directed on foot into nearby fields at gunpoint.
The robbery and the donga
As the group moved deeper into the fields, Mr Majalle said Mabusela demanded money from Ms Khutsoane. She disclosed approximately M400 in cash and further funds accessible only through her bank account, subject to a daily withdrawal limit of M1,000. She surrendered her PIN number under duress. At the donga, the witness testified, Mabusela struck him with the butt of the firearm, knocking him into the depression. “He said: ‘This devil is the one who is going to set the police after me’.”
All three were then ordered to lie face down with their hands extended before them. The witness testified that Ms Khutsoane broke from that position and grappled with the accused. “Mpho managed to stand up and grabbed him around the waist. There was a struggle and she called for my help, but I felt weak and terrified. Then I heard a gunshot.” Ms Khutsoane collapsed. Her final words, as testified by the witness, were: “Jonna, I am going to die because of adultery.”
The killings
Mr Majalle told the court that Mabusela then instructed him to retrieve a stone. His first attempt to flee was halted when the accused threatened to shoot him. He ultimately complied, locating a stone approximately 20 to 30 centimetres in length. What followed, the witness said, constitutes the most horrifying moment of his life.
“He sat on Mpho’s chest and struck her repeatedly with the stone. I heard something crack and believed it was her skull. There was a strong smell of fresh blood.” The witness testified that he pleaded for his own life throughout the ordeal and offered to assist the accused in fleeing to South Africa.
The accused then turned to Ms Ramatabooe. The witness said she begged for her life and offered to surrender everything she had. She also indicated, according to Mr Majalle’s evidence, that she would comply with a sexual demand made by the accused if he spared her. Her plea did not result in her release. “He struck her numerous times on the forehead with the same stone until blood was gushing from her head,” the witness told the court.
After the killings and the crime scene
Following the killings, Mr Majalle testified that Mabusela ordered him to search the victims’ bodies for mobile phones. The two men then departed in Ms Khutsoane’s vehicle, travelling via Roma before proceeding to the witness’s family home in Mazenod, where an old passport was collected. The witness said the passport was intended by Mabusela as a document to facilitate his return to South Africa.
The bodies of Ms Khutsoane and Ms Ramatabooe were subsequently discovered in the donga at Ha Mosalla, Thaba-Bosiu. Investigators attending the scene described it as among the most gruesome they had ever encountered. Post-mortem findings confirmed severe head injuries and crushed skulls consistent with blunt force trauma. A blood-stained rock, believed to be the instrument used in the killings, was recovered at the scene.
Mabusela maintains his plea of not guilty on all counts. The trial continues.
By Staff Reporter | Lesotho Tribune
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