Onthatile Sebati, the woman who orchestrated the brutal murders of her parents, pregnant sister, and young brother when she was just 15 years old, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison. The Pretoria High Court delivered the sentencing following her shocking confession to the gruesome crime that took place in December 2016.
Sebati, now 24, planned the murders with the help of her cousins, Tumelo and Kagiso Mokone, who were both sentenced to life imprisonment. The court heard harrowing details of how the murders were meticulously planned and executed, leaving the Sebati family of Mmakau, near Brits in the North West, devastated.
A Chilling Plot for Money
Sebati’s sinister plan unfolded in 2016, targeting her parents, Cons Solomon Lucky Sebati and Mmatshepo, as well as her 19-year-old pregnant sister Tshegofatso and three-year-old brother Quinton. According to court testimonies, Sebati hired her cousins Tumelo and Kagiso Mokone to carry out the murders, paying them R100,000 from an insurance payout she received after the deaths.
The gruesome details of the crime were revealed in court, including how Sebati provided her father’s gun to the Mokone brothers the night before the murders. The cousins then entered the Sebati family home, where they shot and killed the entire family. To make the scene more convincing, Sebati asked her cousins to shoot her in the thigh before they fled the house.
The Truth Unveiled After 8 Years
Although the crime took place in 2016, Sebati’s confession only came to light in 2021. According to the state, Sebati had been under the influence of drugs when she revealed the chilling truth to other family members, admitting her involvement in the murders. Her confession led to the arrest and conviction of both Sebati and her cousins.
During the trial, the court heard how Sebati, a minor at the time of the murders, had lived with the guilt of the crime for years before finally confessing. It was revealed that her primary motivation was the large insurance payout she would receive following the deaths of her parents and siblings.
Guilty of Multiple Charges
In January, the Pretoria High Court found Sebati and her co-accused guilty of four counts of murder, theft, robbery with aggravating circumstances, possession of a firearm, and possession of ammunition. During the sentencing, the court considered both mitigating and aggravating factors presented by the defence and the state.
While Sebati received a 25-year prison sentence, her cousins, Tumelo and Kagiso Mokone, were handed life sentences for their roles in the brutal killings. The court’s decision brings some closure to a case that has shocked the Mmakau community and the country at large.
A Community Shattered
The Sebati family murders left the quiet Mmakau community reeling. The fact that a teenager could orchestrate the murders of her own family has caused widespread shock and anger. Many are still trying to come to terms with the scale of the betrayal, particularly the murder of Sebati’s pregnant sister and her young brother.
While justice has been served, the scars left behind by this tragedy will linger for years to come.
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