//Khara Hais Municipality speaker charged with wife's murder

Upington – Thomas Basson, the speaker of the //Khara Hais Municipality in the Northern Cape, has appeared in the local magistrate’s court for allegedly killing his wife in June last year.

Initially charged with culpable homicide, Basson was arrested again on Sunday, this time on a charge of murder, and has been remanded in custody. 

Basson claimed during his arrest last year that he accidentally reversed over his wife, mistaking her for a dog. 

“Initially Mr Basson was charged with culpable homicide after he drove over his wife in June last year,” said police spokesperson, Lieutenant Olebogeng Tawana.

Police did not want to divulge the reason for charges being changed, but News24 has learnt that an autopsy performed on his wife found that she was allegedly strangled to death before being run over by the car driven by her husband. 

“The arrest yesterday came after a lengthy investigation that led to the charge being changed to murder instead of culpable homicide,” Tawana said. 

Basson was also due to be charged with defeating the ends of justice for allegedly tampering with the crime scene.

He is due to appear in court again on Friday and is expected to bring a bail application. 

This article first appeared on News24 – see here.