Leshabane admits signature on confession letter is his

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A Limpopo man accused of orchestrating his estranged wife’s murder and her business associate made an admission in court on Tuesday over credentials implicating him in the crime.

Stanley Leshabane told the High Court in Polokwane that the signature contained in a confirmation statement, in which he admits to hiring hitmen to kill his wife, indeed belongs to him.

Leshabane and three of his co-accused, Ndondo Buthelezi, Bheki Phiyose and Thembelani Dlamini have been charged with the 2020 murder of Leshabane’s wife, Makoena Mabusela-Leshabane and her business associate, Tebogo Mphuti in Polokwane, Limpopo.

Accused number three, Richard Zulu died while in custody in 2023.

The statement, allegedly written by Leshabane, contains chilling details on how Mabusela-Leshabane and Mphuti murders were planned.

Although Leshabane acknowledged the signature appended to the statement is his, he insists he does not remember admitting to killing his wife.

A visibly nervous Leshabane also insists that he was under severe mental stress on the day the police took the statement.

He told the court he couldn’t have furnished the hit men with his wife’s whereabouts as he did not know exactly where she would be sleeping on the night before her death.

“One could have stated that my wife would sleep at Ga-Sebotsi instead of what is stated here. But I don’t really recall where that came from, my Lord.”

Accused number two, Ndondo Buthelezi, who is believed to have pulled the trigger, also testified.

The 29-year-old Buthelezi told the court he was sleeping at his home in Katlehong, Gauteng on the day of the murders.

” I used to work at night and came home the following morning. From around 7am, I went straight to bed and woke in the afternoon around 2pm,” he says.

“Accused number four, Thembelani Dlamini, also profusely denied the charges laid against him. The 34-year-old taxi driver said he never set foot in Polokwane on the day of the double murders.

“The first time I was here was when I got arrested and brought to Polokwane to appear in court,” he says.

Accused number five Bheki Sifiso Phiyose is expected to testify on Thursday.

Leshabane in court on murder charge