Sultry television actress and influencer Tebogo Thobejane says she has sneezed at the state’s proposal to place her under a witness protection programme.
The former Muvhango thespian has alleged that this is because she is worried that she will possibly be guarded by the same cops alleged to be in cahoots with criminal syndicates implicated in her attempted murder and the murder of high-profile figures.
She also alleged that the witness protection programme comes with stringent conditions, which decree that she should be off social media and confined within the borders of South Africa.
Thobejane and her friend were shot in Sandton, Joburg, after they left Signature nightclub in 2022, where they were chilling with businessman Serge Cabonge.
Thobejane’s ex-boyfriend and tender tycoon Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala and his co-accused, Musa Kekana and Tiego Mabusela, were arrested and charged with the actress’s attempted murder and money laundering, among others.
Speaking to Sunday World, Thobejane said she rejected outright the proposal to place her under a witness protection programme after discovering that Matlala, Mabusela and Kekana were allegedly in collaboration with a criminal cartel to commit hideous crimes in Gauteng.
Thobejane said that after the attempt on her life, she deposed an affidavit narrating what had happened and the culprits she suspected – including Matlala and his wife, Tsakani Baloyi.
She alleged that out of her concern for her safety, the police offered to place her under a witness protection programme. However, after rumination, she rejected it.
“My concerns, which I raised with the police, were about how you guarantee my safety because the very same people who want to kill me are working with the police. I could be walking right into the trap and get killed,” she said.
Thobejane said another anathema about the programme was that the witness is prohibited from engaging in social media activities.
“You are not allowed to post! I’m an influencer and content creator. I make a living off social media. I have a bond and other bills to pay. How am I supposed to make a living, because my acting career has been destroyed?”
Thobejane said another bugbear for her was that witnesses under the protection programme are not allowed to leave the country.
“You are expected to live within the confines of South African borders. I couldn’t take that chance; that is why I left the country,” she said.
Thobejane also blasted the state for spending over R140-million on a commission of inquiry into policing and the judiciary, stemming from allegations of police complicity in crime.
“There is no single cent spent on the medical bills of the poor woman (Thobejane’s friend) who sustained injuries to her spinal cord as a result of being shot. She is wheelchair bound. Her parents and I are paying her medical bills because we want her to get her life back, but the state spends so much money on the commission…
“I have established a foundation to fight gender-based violence, but I have not received funds from any government entity to support it,” she lamented.
