Sandy Maleshane, 26, Charmaine’s cousin, was sitting at her house with her boyfriend when they heard a knock. When the boyfriend went to answer the door, he was ambushed by two gunmen who shot both him and his girlfriend. He escaped, made it to the hospital, and made it through the attack. The cousin did not make it out alive.
Thys Sefatsa, Charmaine’s father/stepfather, was said to have been found irreparably burned in a house fire on the same day.
It is claimed that Charmaine earned R320 000 from insurance claims for both of the victims of these unfortunate events that occurred on the same day.
Following their arrest, the gunmen identified Charmaine Bila as having hired them to carry out a task that involved shooting her boyfriend. It appears that Bila was detained in connection with this, and the fire event was later determined to have been arson, shifting the inquest verdict to murder. At the time, she was detained in relation to the murder.
She has made multiple court appearances for bail hearings. Bail has not yet been issued for her.
Her co-accused have appeared separately from her. She is charged with conspiracy to commit murder, two counts of murder, arson, attempted murder of cousin’s boyfriend.
