MOPANI – A well-known taxi owner, Libeko Michael Malatjie (54) was released on R2 000 bail, after appearing in the Bolobedu magistrate's court on Monday on two counts of murder.

The incident relating to the case took place in the bushes surrounding Gantatho Village in the Bolobedu area on Saturday, May 17 2003, at about 18:30. According to the spokesperson of the police in the Mopani Area, Capt Moatshe Ngoepe, the accused 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.

The accused allegedly followed them into the bushes and found them having sexual intercourse inside the boyfriend's car. According to the statement, the boyfriend saw the accused from a distance and jumped out and started to run away in his underwear.

Realising that the man was running away, the accused opened fire at him from a distance. Several shots hit him in the back but the man vanished into the bushes. After the man's disappearance the accused turned the gun on his wife and shot and killed her instantly. It was also stated that the accused 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 was 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 a distance away from where the wife had been killed. According to the police statement the man had several bullet wounds in the back. The accused's wife was identified as Victoria Malatjie (43) while the boyfriend's name was Samuel Moropeni (48). The police are investigating the matter further.

Malatjie briefly appeared in the same court on Monday, May 19 and was not asked to plead. The case was postponed until Monday, May 26 while the accused was remanded in custody. It was again postponed, this time to Monday, June 9 - the day on which his bail application was successful. He was once again not asked to plead and the case was postponed to June 26.