The body of the 48-year-old, was found slouched over the steering wheel of her vehicle in a nearby sports ground, at the corner of Westrich Drive and Butterfly Street. She had been fatally stabbed, allegedly the night before (Sunday), when she was last seen alive.
The deceased, who is a mother of two, had left her home on Sunday evening with her youngest son, to visit a friend but never made it home. A close family friend who wished to remain anonymous said the deceased’s husband had been unaware of her whereabouts. “He began to worry when she didn’t come home around 11pm. He called her, but his calls went unanswered,” the friend said.
The friend said the calls might have been unanswered because the 48-year-old ‘might have been already deceased’. “The sad part of it all is that her 2-year-old child was with her (inside the vehicle) at the time that she was killed. Now we don’t know if he was asleep or witnessed his mother take her last breath.”
The child was found by a community member who had been on a her way to work. “They found him, looking lost on the street along Westrich Drive and asked him where he was going and he told them he was walking home because he couldn’t wake up his mother. They asked him where his mother was and he (the toddler) led them to where the vehicle was parked. Thats how she was found, she wasn’t breathing and the police were called. Some local boys walked him (toddler) home so he can point out where he lived. And, that is how we found she had been killed. Her husband arrived and confirmed that it was indeed the mother of his children,” the friend said.
According to the police, the deceased was found at around 11am on Monday morning. KZN police spokesperson captain Nqobile Gwala said, “A 48-year-old woman was found dead with multiple stab wounds inside her vehicle at the corner of Riverdene and Butterfly Roads in Newlands West. “A case of murder was opened at Newlands East police station for investigation.”
A Westrich resident, who had gathered along with other community members at the scene of the incident, said the vehicle had been parked at the sports ground overnight, but they had suspected nothing untoward. “We’ve seen the vehicle parked there before on other days. It was not the first time that the car is there for hours and there was no reason to think that anything was wrong this time,” Ntombi Khumalo said. Khumalo who lives close to the scene of the crime said there had been a bit of a commotion on Sunday but “thought is was just boys playing night time soccer.”
However, the noise on Sunday night was another incident possibly linked to the crime. The alleged boyfriend of the victim was found passed out near a goal post, a few metres away from the deceased. Unconfirmed reports at the scene indicated the man identified as Jabu had drank brake fluid in a bid to take his own life. He is currently receiving treatment following an alleged suicide.
His family, at the scene confirmed that Jabu and the deceased were in a romantic relationship, but his sister said the family was not aware that the deceased was married and had kids. “We knew of their relationship but we were not aware of them having problems. He rang earlier on Sunday evening and said someone had forced him to drink poison. So, we are also not sure what happened.”
Gwala, however, could not confirm the link between the two incidents or whether Jabu was a person of interest for the alleged murder of the 48-year-old woman. “The matter is still under investigation,” she said.