"I wanted to give my family dignified burials," so says Limpopo cop
Limpopo murder-accused and police officer Rachel Shokane-Kutumela told the Polokwane District Court she took out life and funeral policies for her relatives so she could offer them dignified burials upon their death.
The 43-year-old said that she did so after realizing that her mother struggled with the funeral costs of her late father and grandmother.
She appeared in court on Thursday alongside her sister Annah Shokane a nurse at Cintocare Private Hospital in Menlyn and her daughter Flora Shokane.
Rachel and Annah are accused of killing at least nine people for subsequent claims of about R10 million in insurance policies.
Other changes applying to Flora, include money laundering, receiving proceeds from unlawful activities, fraud and defeating the end of justice.
Their formal bail application began on Wednesday following their arrest in September.
Shokane-Kutumela went on to disclose her relationship with the six victims.
She told the court that Maphari Ephraim Choshi was her uncle and that she had an insurance policy for him. She also informed the court she helped with the funeral arrangements for her uncle and renovated her grandmother's house.
Shokane-Kutumela testified that she knew Jacob Petrus Seakamela as the boyfriend of her sister (the daughter of her aunt) and denied having opened or received insurance payouts upon his death.
She further told the court that she did not know Phuti Martin Mothata and as such did not plan his death nor receive insurance payouts upon his death.
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