Twenty-one-year-old Masekate Mallela and twenty-three-year-old Lonwabo Ntobela were arrested earlier this month after police tracked them down in the Eastern Cape, where Ntobela is from, following the discovery of Thibeletsa’s charred body in Kroonstad. The pair, who are also believed to have been tenants of Thibeletsa, are accused of robbing, strangling and thereafter burning the 75-year-old Thibeletsa’s body. At their last court appearance, court records showed that the couple led police to the location where Thibeletsa's body was found.

After being interrogated, the couple led police to the location of the deceased’s charred body in Kroonstad, over 200 km outside the Free State capital. Mallela and Ntobela are believed to have been the 75-year-old woman’s tenants. Police believe that the young couple robbed the aged woman of an undisclosed amount of money, before strangling and burning her body. They then, using her car, transported her body to Kroonstad, where they dumped it near the Flavious Mareka FET College. The pair stands accused of robbing and strangling Thibeletsa then placing her body in the boot of her own car and driving to Kroonstad where they burned and dumped the body.

The arrests came after Thibeletsa was reported missing on January 14 but by the time the missing person's report was issued, she had allegedly already been murdered by the duo on January 5th. The duo faces charges of murder and aggravated robbery charges.

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