Pretoria – A woman, who faked the death of her husband and claimed insurance using someone else’s burnt body, has landed in hot water after her “dead husband” was arrested while driving a stolen car.
On the day supposedly deceased 33-year-old Sibusiso Mahlangu was arrested, his 32-year-old wife Lerato Mahlangu was in the front passenger seat of the stolen car.
On Thursday, Lerato Mahlangu was seated next to her husband in the packed Soshanguve Magistrates Court, in Tshwane, where the pair faced charges of premeditated murder, defeating the administration of justice and fraud.
Sibusiso Mahlangu also faces other charges related to the stolen vehicle he was caught with.
Allegations before the court are that on 2 January 2022, the Soshanguve couple killed a man.
The couple is accused of placing the body inside their RDP house in Block HH before it caught alight.
Allegations are that the “bereaved widow” claimed the charred body recovered from her burnt house was that of her husband Sibusiso Mahlangu.
Thereafter, it is further alleged that the “widowed” Lerato Mahlangu, fraudulently obtained a death certificate from the Department of Home Affairs.
She later claimed her husband’s life policies.
The ruse came to light last month, on 20 April 2023, when the “dead” husband – Sibusiso Mahlangu – was arrested for being in possession of a stolen car in Hammanskraal.
The matter was remanded to 18 May 2023, for a formal bail application.
Both accused husband and wife were remanded in custody.
Explaining how Sibusiso Mahlangu was bust, NPA Regional Spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said: “Upon his arrest and processing, it was discovered that he was registered as deceased, and will be appearing on 29 May 2023, for the Hammanskraal matter at Hammanskraal Magistrate’s Court”.
