By Mashudu Sadike 
13m ago
Pretoria – Self confessed cold-hearted killer, Aubrey Manaka, 29, asked the family of slain Capricorn TVET student Precious Ramabulana, 21, to forgive him when he appeared at the Polokwane High Court in Limpopo this morning.
This is after his attorney, Trott Manzini, read out harrowing and detailed accounts of Manaka’s confession of how he raped, killed and robbed Ramabulana in November 2019 in Mokomane Village, Botlokwa, outside Polokwane.
Manaka was appearing for the first time in his murder and rape trial after it was postponed on Monday because he was under quarantine after an inmate at the Modimolle Correctional Services tested positive for Covid-19.
Manaka was subsequently arrested for the crimes and pleaded guilty to all counts this morning.
In the statement, read out before Judge Maake Kganyago in court, Manaka asked the court to be lenient on him as he felt bad for all the crimes he committed on that day.
Manzini read in part: “On the day before I raped and killed her. I saw her, when visiting my aunt at Mokomane Village in Botlokwa. She was playing music with a friend outside the yard which immediately got my interest.
“I went to watch soccer after that and then went to the tavern for some beers. In the early morning of November 24 I decided to go see her at her house so I could tell her of my feelings for her. I realised there was no way she would open the door for me at that time of the morning so I opened the window and forced my way in.
“She woke up and refused to hear me out as I proposed my love to her. We started to wrestle and I raped her. Thereafter I started stabbed her all over the her body and robbed her of her two cellphones.”
He continued: “Im sorry for all that I did that day and ask for forgiveness from the family and the court to show me leniency.”
Earlier in the day, prosecutor, Trott Manzini, had told the court that the prosecution and defence had agreed that it would not be a lengthy trial because of the confession.
Speaking to Pretoria News in court, Ramabulana’s aunt, Mavis Sethodimela said forgiving and forgetting was not an easy thing.
“We are still not fine because it’s not finalised. We want closure. We will forgive him but he must be locked up because the pain is not going away and if we don’t forgive him we will still feel pain,” she said.
Less than 100 Capricorn TVET college students had been picketing outside throughout the court proceedings.
The trial continues tomorrow to give the defence time to prepare arguments for sentencing.
Pretoria News
Credit IOL