FLAVIO Hlabangwane (27), who is accused of killing his girlfriend Tshepang Pitse (21), chopping her into pieces and putting them in the fridge, appeared in the Protea Magistrates Court in Soweto for the last time on Thursday, 28 July.
His case has been transferred to the South Gauteng High Court in Joburg following a decision by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Magistrate David Mhango said: “The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has decided as follows, that you be tried on a charge of murder.
“You are further informed that the DPP has further decided that the matter will be transferred to the high court in Johannesburg. The date of the pre-trial conference is 2 September.”
Hlabangwane was also furnished a copy of the indictment and told it contained the list of all witnesses.
Zodwa Zwane, speaking on behalf of the Pitse family, told the People’s Paper that the recent developments in the case may be a light at the end of the tunnel for them as they are looking for closure.
“The family will be happy because this has taken a long time. If you are a family member, you’d expect cases to go faster. But they do understand the processes, that’s what the father said,” said Zodwa.
Tshepang’s funeral was held on 16 July, eight months after her body parts were discovered by Hlabangwane’s other girlfriend in November 2021.
It took a while for the funeral to happen due to some missing body parts.
However, Tshepang was laid to rest without the torso which has still not been found.
Asked how Tshepang’s father was on the day of the funeral, Zodwa said: “I saw the pain. We all expected that. I saw a part of him that suggested that at least she had been buried, though they were not sure if the body part was going to be found or not.”
