Onthathile Sebati sentenced to 25 years for hiring cousins to murder her family at 15
The Pretoria High Court has sentenced Onthathile Sebati to 25 years in prison after she was found guilty of hiring her cousins to murder her parents, sister, and brother when she was just 15 years old.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) stated that Sebati received 25 years for each of the four murder counts, along with 10 years for robbery with aggravating circumstances, five years for theft, five years for possession of a firearm, and an additional five years for possession of ammunition.
“Sebati was sentenced in accordance with the Child Justice Act, Sections 69 and 77 of the Criminal Procedure Act.
The judge ordered that her sentence be backdated to her arrest on December 16, 2021.
![Onthatile Sebati [middle] has appeared in court, accused of masterminding the brutal of her parents and her two siblings in 2016. Photo: Screengrab/Newzroom Afrika](https://image-prod.iol.co.za/16x9/800/Onthatile-Sebati-middle-has-appeared-in-court-accused-of-masterminding-the-brutal-of-her-parents-and-her-two-siblings-in-2016-Photo-Screengrab-Newzroom-Afrika?source=https://iol-prod.appspot.com/image/46f7b945b876564f941ec11871c41501baec768d/2000&operation=CROP&offset=0x3&resize=2000x1125)
Onthatile Sebati [middle] has appeared in court, accused of masterminding the brutal of her parents and her two siblings in 2016.
An order for the search and seizure of their premises was also granted,” said NPA spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana.
Her cousins, Tumelo and Kagiso Mokone, were also sentenced to four life terms for the murders, along with 15 years each for robbery with aggravating circumstances, five years each for theft, five years each for possession of a firearm, and an additional five years each for possession of ammunition.
Previously reported by IOL, Sebati paid her cousins R50,000 each for their roles in the killings, using money she received after her parents’ deaths.
The trio faced charges including murder, theft, robbery with aggravating circumstances, and possession of a firearm and ammunition.
In 2021, Sebati admitted to giving her father, police officer Solomon Lucky Sebati’s firearm to kill her mother, nurse Mmatshepo Sebati, along with her 19-year-old pregnant sister Tshegofatso and six-year-old brother Quinton at their home in Mmakau, North West.
After the murders, the Mokone siblings fled in Sebati’s father’s car, which was later found abandoned nearby after becoming stuck in mud.
Leading up to the sentencing, the trio initially pleaded guilty, but DNA linked one of the brothers to the crime, prompting confessions from the others.
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