News24.com | Life sentence for North West man who hired hitman to kill stepmother who raised him since he was 5

A North West man and the hitman he hired to kill his stepmother were both handed life sentences.

• A North West man who enlisted the help of a hitman to kill his stepmother has been handed a life sentence.
• It was revealed in court that Lebogang Archibald Serei wanted his mother dead so he could take over the business that his late father had left behind.
• Kgomotso Seri, the murdered woman, had raised her killer since he was five years old.

A North West man who enlisted the help of a hitman to murder his stepmother so he could inherit the business his late father had left behind has been handed a life sentence.

The North West High Court sitting in Vryburg sentenced Lebogang Archibald Serei, 40, and hitman Joel Tuma Phatudi, 40, each to a life sentence for Kgomotso Serei's murder, as well as a further 35 years for two counts of robbery, possession of a firearm and possession of ammunition.

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Their two co-accused were acquitted on all charges.

According to North West National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Henry Mamothame, the sentences will not run concurrently.

In handing down the sentence, Judge Samkelo Gura agreed with the State that the two men had murdered Kgomotso in order to take over her business. Gura remarked on Serei's intentions to inherit the business following his father’s death.

'Three suspicious men'

Serei was only five years old when his father married Kgomotso, who then raised him as her own child.

However, on 25 May 2017, she was at her funeral parlour when she was shot dead by the hitman her stepson had hired.

Mamothame said it had emerged in court that, on the day of the murder, Serei had instructed one of Kgomotso's employees to lock all the doors, except for the garage door. This was before the employee noticed three men standing not far from the business premises.

Mamothame said: 

"They then demanded her cellphone, before proceeding to the deceased, who was also inside the premises.

"One of the men was identified as Joel Tumo Phatudi and he was identified as the culprit who turned the gun onto the deceased and shot her in the head."

Search for hitman

They had then fled with two cellphones and a handbag belonging to Kgomotso.

During investigations, it was revealed that Serei had approached one of the employees to find him a hitman to kill his stepmother.

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"A witness who refused the proposition to murder also provided the police with a statement confirming that he was approached by the employee to execute the murder," Mamothame said.

"The same employee also confirmed that Serei gave him money to deliver to Phatudi, after the funeral of his stepmother."

During the trial, prosecutor Cain Nontenjwa argued that the court must not deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence.

North West Director of Public Prosecutions Rachel Makhari and provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant General Sello Kwena, lauded Nontenjwa and Detective Sergeant Lesley Kgatisang for a collaboration that resulted in the successful conviction of Serei and Phatudi.