The trial of Debswana employee, Mmabatho Sekgoma who is accused of abducting a small boy is turning into a sordid tale of an extramarital affair that went awry ÔÇô complete with a love child and maintenance squabbles.
Sekgoma last week appeared before Gaborone Chief Magistrate, Lot Moroka, accused of abducting the son of her alleged married consort on March, 24, 2005. This was allegedly after Sekgoma and his married lover had quarreled over the maintenance of their love child.
Sekgoma’s cover was broken by a picture she had allegedly given to the cheating husband in happier times.
The abducted boy’s mother, Kelebetseng Mugezela, on Wednesday told the Village Magistrate Court that she knew that the accused, Sekgoma, and her husband, Obed Makhohliso, were having an affair.
Mugezela said this under cross examination by Duma Boko. She said she had known about the extra marital affair between the two as far back as 1987 and that her husband confessed to the relationship when she confronted him about the issue. Mugezela said that before then, her husband had told her that he and Sekgomo were just work mates and, at one stage, she had even visited Sekgomo whilst she was sick which she (Sekgomo) said she appreciated.
Mugezela said that soon after that visit, she found out that the two were lovers and not just friends or work mates as was claimed by the accused.
Asked if she knew that her husband had a daughter by the name of Shaloma, Mugezela denied knowing about the daughter.
She also denied knowing that on the date her son was abducted, her husband had earlier that day at around 6:30 in the morning visited Sekgoma’s home where a quarrel had ensued between the two when Sekgoma had shown her husband papers from her attorneys on the need to formalize the paying of maintenance for their daughter.
She, however, confirmed that her husband had earlier that day left their home saying he was going to meet a man friend.
Earlier, when giving evidence in chief, Mugezela told the Court that she was on the evening of the date in question telephoned by Naledi Police who told her that they had her son whom they had picked up at the Water Affairs buildings the same day.
After that, she said, she phoned the young boy’s father and told him about the phone call from the police and asked him to go to the Police station as well. Arriving at the Naledi Police station, she found his son who later related the events that had happened to him, including the fact that the woman who had collected him from school had promised to take him home but changed the routes on the way and that he finally escaped from her custody at the dam.
On arriving home, Mugezela said that his son was able to identify the woman who had abducted her from school from some photographs. Asked under cross examination where the photograph had came from in her home, Mugezela said that she had picked it from her husband Makhohliso’s home in Jwaneng. Pressed further, she said that she had decided to keep the photograph although she had earlier told the court that she had burnt other photographs of the accused person because she did not want them in her house.