Siphelele Nketo
A YOUNG man (21) in the township area of Horseshoe in Kokstad, KwaZulu-Natal, had the shock of his life when he discovered his deceased mother (40) lying on her bed on Wednesday morning, September 2. The unemployed youth told the Post that he would have done everything to save his mother’s life if he had been with her. The deceased’s son claimed that his mother had been physically abused by her boyfriend on numerous occasions. He further claimed that he even stopped living with his mother since last year to avoid seeing her being abused.
“The last time I saw my mother was on Tuesday at home. She was physically healthy and happy. I played her favourite Maskandi songs before I left home,” the grieving man said. He further said that he went to check on his mother the following day after he heard a neighbour telling him about blood stains in the yard.
Neighbours forced the door open, only to find the deceased woman in the bed.
“I tried to wake her up, but it was too late,” the son added.
One of the neighbours at the crime scene was Thembinkosi Siphamla, who said that the deceased woman’s lower body was covered with a blanket, and the upper body was uncovered.
Siphamla further said that around the deceased’s bed, there were empty bottles of beer, broken into pieces.
According to SAPS spokesperson Mosa Hlaki, the woman was found with stab wounds on the head and leg, and the body was bruised. Hlaki confirmed the case of murder launched by Kokstad police and urged anyone with information to inform the police.
Nontokozo van Wyk, the victim’s neighbour, said that she once advised the deceased to leave her boyfriend to avoid being a statistic of gender-based violence in the Kokstad area. The boyfriend’s whereabouts are not known at this stage. “Last year, the deceased was admitted to hospital for being severely assaulted with a bush knife by her boyfriend. Her relationship with her boyfriend was so toxic that I tried to convince her to leave,” added Van Wyk.
Meanwhile in Kokstad last Sunday, August 30, there was a gruesome discovery of a deceased body of a woman next to the Mzintlava River. The body was found by a local resident with several stab wounds on the chest and was cut open from the neck straight down to the stomach. Kokstad police confirmed the murder case for investigations. SAPS also appealed to anyone with information to contact Lieutenant Colonel Mzelemu from Kokstad Detectives or report to the police station on 039 797 1123/30.
