This as emotion ran high in courtroom 20 in the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court on Wednesday during the accused's cross-examination. 

The accused's mother, Ameliah Ramatisa, testified for her daughter, with hopes of seeing her released on bail as the accused’s two children are under her care. 

State prosecutor, Johan de Vries, accused Seipati of lying under oath to sway the scale in her favour, and said she directly participated in efforts to aid the father of her 10-month-old child and other suspects in the matter by physically destroying evidence linking them to the case. 

The case against the 20-year-old was postponed to October 15 for a formal bail application. OFM News previously reported that three suspects stand accused of the murders of three men - of which one is a Lesotho national. 

The deceased’s bodies were found in a field and are believed to have been shot execution-style. 

It is alleged that the murders happened after an altercation with a councillor of Ward 12 where a road project is underway.

It was revealed in court that Ramatisa was arrested at a house allegedly used as a hideout, that belongs to a "granny"  in phase 10 that she knew through her boyfriend.

She was allegedly on the run after learning that the police were hot on her trail. The 20-year-old allegedly left her two children with her mother on one Monday before she was arrested later on.

This follows after she left her parental house in Phase 3 and moved in with the accused in Dinaweng two weeks prior to the murder. It was established that she moved out due to a fight that broke out between her and her brother.

Ramatisa broke down in court on Wednesday during a heated cross-examination by the State Prosecutor. Magistrate Ryan Ishmail subsequently asked for a recess in Ramatisa's testimony as she began to weep under a fierce line of questioning from the state's De Vries.

Ramatisa, who earlier appeared to be in good spirits, is testifying with the hopes of being released on bail after she was arrested in June for her involvement in the murder of two DA members, Molokwane Mkgoro and Godfrey Mbalula, and one Lesotho National in Bloemfontein earlier this year.

De Vries has argued that Ramatisa was directly involved in efforts to help the father of her child flee from Bloemfontein to escape arrest. Ramatisa intended to plead not guilty to charges levelled against her.

During her testimony in a packed court, Ramatisa asked the court to release her on bail so that she can look after her two children, aged 6 years and 10 months respectively.

She says her ailing parents, whom both suffer from Diabetes, cannot carry the burden of looking after her children as they are both elderly. 

She also told the court that she is still breastfeeding the younger child, a claim which De Vries vehemently opposed.

In the last question by the state De Vries asked Ramatisa if she ever considered the families of the deceased as much as she did hers, and ever thought of the ramifications of her actions.


OFM News