Dube killing - man feared for his life

Testifying on behalf of the state, Mpho Maropeng said her husband Thabo had feared he would be killed. 'Thabo said he was afraid they might kill him,' she said. The Maropeng couple was arrested in connection with the murder, but later released. Mpho was testifying in the case of three men - Mbuti Mabe, Julius Gxowa and Sifiso Mhlanga - accused of killing Dube in October 2007. When asked why she had decided to testify against the men, she said she was giving evidence voluntarily and not because she and Thabo were getting divorced or the fact that they had fought on the day of their arrests. Mpho insisted she was not the one who called the police although she had threatened to do so. Questioned by the judge on why Thabo had told her what had happened on the night of Dube's death, she said: 'I think he was scared. He does not hide anything from me. I did not pressure him.' Full report on the IoL site See also a Beeld report