MOPANI – A well-known taxi owner, Libeko Michael Malatjie (54), was not asked to plead when he appeared in the Bolobedu Magistrate's Court on two counts of murder last Thursday.

The incident relating to the case took place in the bushes surrounding Gantatho Village in the Bolobedu area on Saturday, May 17 this year at about 18:30. Capt Moatshe Ngoepe, spokesperson of the police in the Mopani Area, said Malatjie had received information that his wife was having a love affair with another man. He was further told that on the day of the incident, the woman was in the company of her boyfriend in the nearby bushes.

It is alleged that Malatjie then followed them into the bushes and found them having sexual intercourse inside the boyfriend's car. According to the statement the boyfriend, Samuel Moropeni (48), saw the accused from a distance and jumped out of the vehicle and started to run away in his underwear. Malatjie allegedly opened fire at him from a distance. Several shots hit him in the back, but the man vanished in the bushes. After the man's disappearance, Malatjie allegedly turned the gun on his wife and shot and killed her instantly.

The police said that Malatjie later phoned the police and told them that he had killed his wife. He further told the police that he had fired several shots at the man who had been in the company of his wife and that the man had vanished into the surrounding bushes.

The police traced the man and he was found dead some distance away from where the wife had been killed. According to the police statement the man had several bullet wounds at the back. Malatjie briefly appeared in court on Monday, May 19 and was not asked to plead and the case was postponed until Monday, May 26 while the accused was remanded in custody.

The case was again postponed, to Monday, June 9, the day on which he was released on R2 000 bail. He was again not asked to plead and the case was postponed till last Thursday, June 26. The case was once again postponed, this time till Monday, July 21.

The accused's wife was identified as Victoria Malatjie (43). The police are investigating the matter further.