"I removed or dismembered the head, both arms and legs from the body."This formed part of the guilty plea of a man charged with killing and later dismembering the body of his cousin and lover, Tshepang Pitse, 23, two years ago.
Flavio Hlabangwane, 28, attempted to convince the Gauteng High Court sitting in the Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court on Tuesday to accept his guilty plea. He murdered Pitse and later hid her head in a shallow grave in Randfontein between 6 October and 13 November 2021.
He claimed he kept Pitse's arms and legs inside a freezer on his property in Protea Glen. Prosecutor advocate Johan Badenhorst opposed the guilty plea, saying Hlabangwane was only pleading guilty to a charge of murder, not premeditated murder.
Premeditated murder carries a heavier sentence. Badenhorst then pleaded with Judge Cassim Moosa to allow the case to go to trial, where he would prove Hlabangwane planned Pitse's murder.
In his guilty plea, Hlabangwane claimed he lived with Pitse and was in a romantic relationship with her. "I admit that although I can't remember the exact date, I took her bank card and went to buy food as I sometimes did.
"She didn't have a problem with that. However, when I returned [that day], she confronted me about using her card without informing her. We then had an argument which quickly escalated.
"… during the argument, I pushed her, and she hit the back of her head on the corner of the stove. She then fell down. When she stood, I noticed she was bleeding. She advanced towards me. I managed to grab a knife. I stabbed her in the neck, and she died in seconds," he said.
"In the event of conviction, the sentence to be imposed could be life imprisonment unless compelling circumstances could make the court deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence.
"You pleaded guilty to murder which carries 15 years. The State doesn't agree with your plea. They want to bring evidence that you are facing a premeditated murder charge," Moosa warned Hlabangwane.
The trial continues on Thursday.
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