Karabo Mokoena (1995 - May 2017) was a South African gender-based violence victim. Her brutal murder by her boyfriend sparked outrage, with women using the hashtag #MenAreTrash. [1] Her burnt remains were found buried in a shallow grave in a deserted field in Johannesburg,Gauteng. [2]
Karabo Mokoena was a part-time business student and was involved in a relationship with Sandile Mantsoe, who was a forex trader. Before her disappearance, it was reported that she was involved in a heated argument with Mantsoe outside a nightclub in Sandton, Gauteng. [3] [4] Mantsoe claimed he left Karabo in the apartment after their argument and upon his return found her dead. He was charged with premeditated murder and defeating the ends of justice. [5] [6]
Sandile Mantsoe later confessed to police that he killed Karabo and how he disposed his body. [7] [8] "He said he stuffed her body into a bin, rolled it out and into his gold BMW and drove to his family home in Lyndhurst, in southern Johannesburg. He picked up a tyre, acid and a container and drove to a filling station to buy petrol, which he used to douse Karabo's body in Bramley, where he buried her body." [9] [10]
Mantsoe told police he killed Karabo because they both had a ritual to give them power for his forex business. [11] Mokoena’s charred body was found in an open veld by a passer-by in Lyndhurst, Johannesburg on 29 April 2017. Sandile Mantsoe was found guilty at the High Court in Johannesburg of murdering his 22-year-old ex-girlfriend Karabo Mokoena, whose stabbed and burnt remains were found buried in a shallow grave in a field in Johannesburg. [12] The case has caused shock and outrage, with the victim becoming symbolic of the violence faced by women in South Africa. [13]
In May 2025, Olerato Mongale, a journalist who covered Mokoena's story, was kidnapped and murdered. Her body was found not far from the area where Mokoena's body was found. [14]