18 Jul 2019

Triple murder accused Kativa Diwanaga has been remanded in custody while the court awaits further information from Namibia where his alleged accomplice is incarcerated on a charge of entering the country illegally.

Diwanga, 33, will appear again for mention on August 8 for allegedly murdering Mr Methulesi Nsoliwa, his wife Ms Sibongile Marks and their three-year-old daughter Melissa on June 10 at Gaborone’s Tsholofelo East location.

When the case resumed on July 18, Prosecutor Onkemetse Gaboutlwelwe told the court that the investigation team went to Namibia on July 7 arrivIng at Divundu village the following day where they interviewed the other suspect, Thomas Gilala who originates from Mowanza City in Tanzania.

Inspector Gaboutlwelwe said Gilala was found in possession of two Huawei cellphones, one Alcatel and one Ket phone belonging to the deceased.

He was also found wearing a camouflage jacket belonging to the deceased, Mr Nsoliwa which was identified by Mr Toni Marks, nephew to the other deceased, Ms Sibongile Marks.

Advancing reasons for requesting that Diwanga be remanded in custody, Inspector Gaboutlwelwe said investigations were still continuing since Gilala refused to disclose the names of the man he was with on the day the crime was committed.

The court heard that Gilala had revealed that he did not commit the murder alone but with another man whom he refused to identify.

Inspector Gaboutlwelwe said Gilala’s trial commenced on Wednesday at Divundu Magistrate Court and it continued yesterday.

In addition, she said that they were still awaiting response to a letter written to the Namibian Directorate of Public Prosecution requesting mutual assistance on the murder case and an affidavit for the DNA test. 

The prosecuting officer said it had been established that the accused person’s relatives resided in Namibia which required another investigation to determine how he came to have Botswana citizenship.

Inspector Gaboutlwelwe said Diwanga was a flight risk and could not be released on bail as he might cross into Namibia thereby jeopardising the case.

Diwanga told the court that only his mother and some of his siblings originated from Namibia whereas he had been in Botswana all his life.

He started schooling at Xakawe Primary School,  did Junior Certificate at Etsha 6 before proceeding to Ghanzi Senior Secondary School.

On employment history, he said he started working for Security Systems in 2007 until 2010 when he resigned. In 2011, he started working for G4S and resigned in March this year, with the intention to focus on his thriving tuck shop business, he said.

Diwanga mentioned that he had never been to Gaborone prior to his arrest.

Chief Magistrate Linah Mokibe-Oahile approved the state’s application for a remand but urged the prosecution to speed up investigations to avoid dragging on for too long. Ends