Orlando Pirates midfielder Thembinkosi Lorch and his ex-girlfriend, who accused him of assaulting her in a domestic violence incident had squabbled again over R140 000 and his plan to evict her after he was released on bail.
Lorch wanted to apply for an eviction order to kick Nokhuphiwa Mathithibala out of his Midrand house, where he assaulted her in a gender-based violence incident that is posing a threat to his flourishing football career about three years ago.
But Mathithibala told him to rather pay her back the R140 000 she loaned him before she could vacate the soccer’s posh crib.
It was not clear if Lorch was able to comply with Mathithibala’s demands at the time of
going to print.
These details, which will form part of Lorch’s mitigation of sentence when he appears in court on July 28 for sentencing, were revealed by a cop who did not want to be named because he is not allowed to speak to the media.
“He will use this information to show the court that their relationship was cordial and not only did they support each other emotionally and psychologically but financially too,” said the detective who is close to the case.
Lorch’s lawyer Pierre de Kock of De Kock and Vanheerden Attorneys said he did not know anything about the money and the eviction plan. However, he said, he would use the information in mitigation of sentence when the hearing resumes in court next month if
Lorch gives him instruction to do so. Lorch was found guilty for assaulting Mathithibala when he appeared in the Randburg Magistrate’s court on Tuesday this week. This after the NPA re-enrolled the matter after the court struck it off the court roll a few years ago.
Mathithibala opened a case of assault against Lorch after alleging that the nimble-footed footie strangled her after she asked about his whereabouts in 2020. The incident, according to a police statement, happened on a Sunday evening at the soccer player’s residential complex in Midrand.
Mathithibala stated that Lorch became angry after she asked him where he had been following his disappearance from the house for six hours when she expected them to chill after washing their two cars. She said the soccer player slapped her and strangled her while sitting on top of her as she lay on the ground.
After assaulting her, she stated that Lorch took the car she was driving and drove off with his friend, leaving her stranded and without transport.
A police official close to the case said Lorch was picked up by officers in the wee hours of Monday morning, and he slept in police cells. He was released on bail the following day.
The detective said after being released on bail, Lorch was given clear instruction by the court, as part of his bail condition, not make contact with Mathithibala. Because she had remained in Lorch’s pad when he was languishing in police custody, he was not allowed to go back to the house when out on bail.
“Thembinkosi and his legal team informed her that they would apply for an eviction order to kick her out of the house because there was no way the footballer could sleep in the streets while she stayed in his house. She then replied by saying that there was no need for him to apply for an eviction. She said Thembinkosi should rather pay her back the R140 000 she had loaned him in their happier times,” said the detective.
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