South African man caught driving a stolen car one year after he ‘died’ in house fire, charged with murder along with his wife – Cops believe couple buried wife’s missing ex and cashed life policies
Married couple from Tshwane, South Africa has been arrested after the “dead” husband who died in a house fire last year, resurrected driving a stolen car
Sibusiso Mahlangu and his wife Lerato from Soshanguve have been arraigned for murder, defeating the ends of justice and fraud, as police investigate who was buried in Mahlangu’s place after deliberate arson
While authorities are yet to identify who was buried in Mahlangu’s place, it’s believed the charred body was found wearing a ring that belongs to Mahlangu belonged to Lerato Mahlangu‘s ex
Lerato Mahlangu‘s missing ex-boyfriend, Sibusiso Sithebe, 30, who is the father of her daughter, mysteriously vanished on Jan 31, 2022
It’s believed Mahlangu killed Sithebe at their house before the arson that burnt the house with the body inside
Lerato “falsely claimed that the charred body was that of her husband and registered his death at home affairs and got a fake death certificate, she also claimed money for insurance policies
The couple who have been arrested and remanded in custody are scheduled to appear in Court on May 4

Sibusiso Mahlangu [right], who it was assumed died a house fire in 2022 and his wife Lerato [left], from Soshanguve have been charged with murder, defeating the ends of justice and fraud. Police in South Africa launched an investigation to establish who was buried in Mahlangu’s place
A couple from Tshwane, South Africa has been arrested after the husband reported to have died in a house fire last year, was caught driving a stolen car. Sibusiso Mahlangu thought he got away with alleged murder and faking his own death until a case of grand theft auto resurrected him to face the law.
Sibusiso Mahlangu and his wife Lerato from from Soshanguve in Tshwane, have been charged with murder, defeating the ends of justice and fraud, as police launched investigation to establish who was buried in Mahlangu’s place, News 24 reported.
The dead man surprisingly appeared in the Soshanguve Magistrates Court with his wife Lerato Mahlangu for murder and fraud, among other charges.
When Sibusiso Mahlangu was arrested when he was found driving a white VW Polo that had been reported stolen in Hammanskraal, he did not want police to take his fingerprints.
“Police asked why, and he said he was a dead man and that the system would detect that,” said the source.

The family filed a missing person’s report for Sibusiso Sithebe after he failed to come home on New Years Day, 2022
Authorities have not yet confirmed whose body was buried in Mahlangu’s place. Efforts to exhume the body are under way with police making the necessary applications.
However, the body is reported to be Lerato’s missing ex-boyfriend Sibusiso Sithebe, 30, who is the father of her daughter.
Apparently, the charred body was found wearing a ring that belongs to Mahlangu.
Lerato’s baby daddy, Sibusiso Sithebe, mysteriously vanished on January 31, 2022. A day later, it was reported that Lerato’s husband death of Sibusiso Mahlangu had been killed in a house fire.
Local media report that: “What happened is that the husband allegedly killed the deceased at their RDP house and thereafter burnt the house with the body of the deceased inside.
“The wife falsely claimed that the burned dead body was that of her husband and registered his death at home affairs and got a fake death certificate whereas she knew that her husband was alive and buried the wrong person knowingly. She also claimed money for policies.

It is believed the body buried belonged to be Lerato’s missing ex-boyfriend, Sibusiso Sithebe, [photo], who is the father of her Lerato Mahlangu’s daughter
Sithebe’s sister, Linah, said her brother was reported missing on 1 January 2022 after he and his new girlfriend had celebrated their child’s birthday party.
Linah said the girlfriend notified the family after Sithebe did not return from a job in Hammanskraal.
Recounting efforts to locate the missing man, Linah said after filing a missing person’s report the family enlisted the aid of a relative who worked for a cellphone provider to trace her brother’s phone.
“He managed to track Sibusiso’s call log and find out who called him last,” and when Linah called that number, Lerato answered.
“I told her Sibusiso had not been home in two days, and we were worried and asked if she had seen or heard of him, but she said no.
“she and Sibusiso had last spoken at the end of October or the beginning of November,” Lerato said, adding that the news of Sithebe’s disappearance “was stressing her” because she had also just lost her husband.
“She said she was sitting on the mattress grieving her husband, who had died in a fire in their RDP house on January 1, 2022. I started feeling pity for her and was thinking, ‘You just lost your husband, and the father of your child is missing,” said Linah.
“I was sad, confused, worried. When I got into the taxi daily, I’d ask people about my brother, show them pictures, and hope that one would say they had seen him, but nothing.”

Lerato staged a fake funeral for her supposedly dead husband, Sibusiso Mahlangu
Last week, more than a year since Sithebe’s disappearance, police invited the family with an update. At the police station, where the investigating officer told Linah: “I think I know where your brother is.”
“He pulled a file with Sibusiso’s pictures. The first page was a burnt house, and the second page was a picture of my brother, who was burnt from the waist up,” Linah told New24.
“I was taken aback and started crying … I couldn’t believe it. That was my brother’s body. I could not believe someone had done that to him,” said Linah, crying.
Mahlangu and his wife who have been arrested and remanded in custody are scheduled to appear at the Soshanguve Magistrate’s Court on May 4.
Leave a Reply