Willem Caswell Maseko and his wife, Itumeleng, who now stands accused of stabbing him. Picture: Facebook Willem Caswell Maseko and his wife, Itumeleng, who now stands accused of stabbing him. Picture: Facebook
Johannesburg - Alcohol and accusations of infidelity are believed to have led to the death of Mpumalanga businessman whose lawyer wife, 26, faces a charge of murder.
Witbank businessman and socialite Caswell Maseko, 30, died on Saturday at his luxury estate home, just outside the coal mining town. His wife, Itumeleng Makhalemele-Maseko allegedly fled the scene minutes after her husband was found lying in a pool of blood.
Security guards at the property told The Star that the couple had driven into the complex in separate luxury cars around 3am on Saturday.
“The wife arrived first with a female friend, and her husband arrived about 20 minutes later. They all looked tipsy. About 30 minutes after their arrival, the wife’s friend came to the guardhouse crying. She claimed that her friend’s husband was beating them. She said the deceased was accusing her of inviting his wife to parties and introducing her to male companions,” said the guard, who wanted to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals.
The guard said a reaction team was called to defuse the situation. The security guard remained in the front guardhouse.
“I’m told that when they got to the house they found the man already dead. While I was waiting for them to come back, I saw the wife driving towards the front gate at high speed. She had managed to open the gate with a remote control,” said the guard.
Makhalemele-Maseko was on the run for two days.
The guards said the couple often fought and they had to intervene.
However, it was the first time that either of them had used a weapon.
Maseko’s aunt, Gugulethu, told The Star this week that she had known about the young couple’s quarrels and that her daughter-in-law had previously threatened to stab the deceased.
The suspect’s Range Rover was found by police in a shopping mall in Pretoria on Sunday.
Makhalemele-Maseko handed herself over at Witbank police station on Monday and was immediately arrested. She appeared at the Witbank Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
Friends and employees of the deceased sang outside the court on Wednesday demanding the suspect be denied bail.
Makhalemele-Maseko’s bail application was postponed to next week for further investigation. She remains in custody.
Wearing T-shirts written “Team No Bail”, the group of about 30 people stood outside the court.
“Caswell was a good man. His employees loved him and he was kind to them. I know the couple was sincerely in love. I respected them but I feel that it would be unfair to Caswell’s family for the suspect to be given bail because of the brutal manner in which Caswell was killed,” said a close friend, who only introduced himself as Sandile.
The deceased owned two businesses in Witbank and had other social projects to uplift youth in the area.
The woman’s father, known as Malepe, said he was not ready to talk about the case against his daughter.
@lindilesifile