'Cops offered me R100 000'
2006-11-23 21:27
Nkosana ka Makaula and Nyambeni Mandiwana
Thohoyandou - A suspected serial killer, accused of murdering seven people in one month, claims police offered him R100 000 to plead guilty.
Mukosi Freddy Mulaudzi, 42, of Maelula in Limpopo made the claim when he appeared in a packed Thohoyandou magistrates court this week.
"My Lord, can you clarify something for me?" he asked before leaving the dock.
"Is it legal for a police investigator to promise a detained person large sums of money to admit he or she is guilty?
"The investigator promised me R100 000 and phone cards that I could use in prison if I would admit I was guilty."
Threatened to sleep in court
Magistrate Jonathan Rapudi advised him to get a lawyer.
It's not the first time Mulaudzi has created a spectacle in court.
In a previous appearance, he held his toddler and threatened to lie down on the floor and sleep through the proceedings if his wife and child weren't immediately released from custody.
His wife was crying while he made the threats.
His wife, Takalani Florence Nethengwe, is charged with being in possession of stolen goods.
Two other co-accused are Munyadziwa Lucas Maligana, 44, and Avhapfani Nyadzani, 37, who are charged with theft.
All four accused were remanded until the case resumed on January 23 next year.
Mulaudzi has not been asked to plead yet on 12 charges that include seven of murder, two of armed robbery, one of rape, and two of housebreaking and theft.
The murders include those of a teenager and her three cousins in their home at Tshivilidulu.
Ndivhuwo Winnity Tshilimandila, 19, Nyadzeni Sivhugwana, 14, Shumani Sivhugwana, 10, and Levhalesani Maxwell Sivhugwana, seven, were all hacked to death with an axe.
Tshilimandila was also raped. Some household items were taken from the house.
In the same month, a woman and her two children were killed at Tshedza village.
Phophi Tracy Radzilani, 30, was hacked to death and the children, Rotondwa Sivhugwana, seven, and Moses Sivhugwana, five months, were then burnt beyond recognition in their bedroom.
Household items were also stolen.
Mulaudzi has not been asked to plead yet and has been denied bail because he still faces a separate case of escaping from lawful custody after breaking out of Baviaanspoort Prison near Pretoria in 1996.
On the run for 10 years
He was serving two life sentences and an additional 52 years for two separate murders and armed robbery at the time.
He was on the run for 10 years until he was caught for the murders committed in August.
He also has been linked to three counts of attempted murder, two of housebreaking, two of armed robbery and two of assault.
All these were committed in the Siloam and Levubu areas in 2004.