Two months after a man who confessed to killing his girlfriend was set free on a technicality, having served just over a year of a life sentence, the victims father was shocked to run into him on the streets.
Startled by seeing Atlholanang William Mosiane in Rustenburg, North West, and not in prison, where he was supposed to be serving a life sentence for murder, Charles Motlodi immediately called his wife, Winnie, to tell her that he had just seen their daughters killer.
At the time, the family was still trying to piece their lives together after Dimpho Motlodis murder and was not aware that Mosiane had appealed his case on a technicality and won.
We knew that he got a life sentence, so we are in a state of shock, the 62-year-old Winnie said. We dont know what to do, we are tired. For two years, we went up and down in court. We dont even know what steps to take.
In March 2021, Mosiane, a traffic officer, shot Motlodi five times in front of their son in Tlhabane. After the murder, Mosiane handed himself over to the police. He was released on bail and during the trial he pleaded guilty to murder and received a life sentence in November 2023.