Boksburg, Gauteng – For nearly five years, the family of Sandra Mathabathe Mamaila believed that the justice system was working quietly in the background to resolve the fatal car crash that claimed her life.
They were wrong. This week, as Ekurhuleni City Manager Kagiso Lerutla stood in the dock for unrelated corruption charges, the Mamaila family sat in stunned silence, learning through the media that the case into Sandra’s death had not only been withdrawn but the entire police docket had "mysteriously" vanished.
The revelation has ignited a firestorm of controversy, raising harrowing questions about the influence of powerful officials over the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the integrity of the justice system in the Ekurhuleni district.
A Night of Shattered Dreams
On May 14, 2021, Sandra Mathabathe Mamaila was heading home to Boksburg after a long shift as a truck driver for SA Taxi. She had just returned from a trip to KwaZulu-Natal, parked her employer’s vehicle in Midrand, and was driving her Hyundai along the N12. She never made it to her sister Margaret and her young son, who were waiting for her.
At approximately 12:10 am, a black Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon, allegedly driven by Kagiso Lerutla, slammed into Sandra’s vehicle. The impact was catastrophic. Sandra died at the scene, leaving behind a son whose life would be irrevocably altered by the loss of his mother.
"When he started school, it was at a private school," Sandra’s cousin, William Mamaila, told reporters. "After the death of his mother, he had to be moved to a public school. The lifestyle he was accustomed to is gone."
The R10,000 Offer: A Chilling Allegation
The details of the crash only began to surface publicly during Lerutla’s bail application last week in the Boksburg Magistrate’s Court. Lerutla, along with suspended EMPD Deputy Chief Julius Mkhwanazi, is currently facing charges of fraud, corruption, and defeating the ends of justice related to a 2019 incident where an impersonator allegedly appeared in court for Lerutla on a speeding charge.
However, it was the State’s opposition to bail that brought the 2021 fatal crash into the spotlight. Prosecutor Adv Nceba Ntelwa made a startling allegation: during the reconstruction of the scene, it was found that Lerutla allegedly offered a tow truck driver R10,000 to remove Sandra’s body from the scene before police could arrive.
While William Mamaila confirmed that Sandra’s body was indeed found at the scene, the allegation of a bribe to tamper with a fatality scene has added a sinister layer to an already tragic story.
The Case of the Vanishing Docket
Perhaps most disturbing for the Mamaila family is the news that the culpable homicide case, originally registered with the Bedfordview police, was quietly withdrawn in August 2023. According to police records, the docket was booked out to a senior prosecutor in Germiston multiple times in late 2023 before being marked as withdrawn.
When the State attempted to locate the docket to bolster its case against Lerutla’s bail, they discovered it was gone. "It is mysteriously missing from the SAPS storeroom where it is supposed to be kept," read the court papers.
For the Mamaila family, the news was a double blow. Sandra’s sister, Margaret, who had been the primary driver behind pursuing the case, died in July 2021, just months after the crash. At the time, the family believed her sudden collapse was due to Covid-19, but the stress of the unresolved tragedy hung heavy over her.
"We found out through the media that the case being discussed at the court appearance of Julius Mkhwanazi and Lerutla was in fact that of our relative," William Mamaila said. "I started connecting the dots when my sisters and cousins called me asking if I heard what happened in court."
A System Under Scrutiny
The disappearance of the docket has thrust the Bedfordview SAPS and the Germiston prosecutorial office into the spotlight. The coincidence of a high-ranking city official being involved in a fatal crash, followed by the "mysterious" withdrawal of charges and the subsequent loss of the entire case file, has led to calls for an independent investigation.
Lerutla and Mkhwanazi were released on R30,000 bail each on Tuesday, 28 April 2026. While the court noted the seriousness of the allegations, the Mamaila family feels that the "culprit" is walking free while they are left with nothing but questions and a missing file.
"Now that we believe we know the person responsible for Sandra’s death, justice for us would be knowing that the culprit is behind bars," Mamaila said.
As the legal battle over the corruption charges continues, the ghost of the N12 crash looms large. The Mamaila family is now seeking legal counsel to force the reopening of the case, demanding that the "missing" justice for Sandra be found, regardless of how high up the ladder the trail may lead.
