Mommy can’t be dead
Teen refuses to accept that Bongeka has passed on
Bongeka Phungula’s daughter still thinks that her mother is coming back and refuses to accept that she is dead.
The 28-year-old Phungula’s body was found in Tladi, Soweto, on Saturday while that of her friend Popi Qwabe was discovered on Friday in Naledi.
Phungula’s aunt Phumzile Mkhize told Sowetan yesterday that Phungula’s 13-yearold daughter Minenhle was not coping with the death of her mother.
“She has been saying that her mother is alive and [that] she told her that she is coming back. She does not believe that her mother is dead and it’s just so sad to watch,” said Mkhize.
Minenhle, who is in Grade 8, was, according to Mkhize, chatting on WhatsApp with her mother on Friday and that is why it is difficult for her to believe that she is gone.
Phungula was also 13 when her own mother died. She had been living with her grandmother since then.
Mkhize said the first person who suspected that something was wrong was Phungula’s boyfriend, who lives in Durban. He could not reach her on the phone on Friday evening.
“He told us that they never went to be d without talking to each other but on Friday, from 7.30pm, he called and she did not respond; he later sent her a message. He said he called her again on Saturday at 5am but still she was not answering her phone,” said Mkhize.
Mkhize said he then went on Facebook, where Qwabe’s cousin said he too could not get hold of the pair.
On Monday, according to Mkhize, Qwabe’s cousin went to the police station and that is where he learnt the pair had been found dead.
“It is hard for us as the family to accept that she is dead. Her grandmother is not taking the news well,” Mkhize said, adding the family had no money to bury Phungula. She said no one was working in the family and Phungula, who arrived in Johannesburg from Durban in February, was the breadwinner even though she had been unemployed for about a year
Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said three people were arrested for the two murders.
‘‘ Daughter has been saying her mother is alive
The woman whose half-naked body was found in an open veld in Soweto was allegedly killed by her friends.
Lerato Moloi’s body was found at an open field in Naledi on Sunday. Lerato was among the four women whose bodies were found in the township over the weekend. Their gruesome killings have sparked nationwide outrage .
Police believe Lerato was also raped. Two men arrested in connection with her murder appeared in the Protea Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
Community safety patroller Thabo Motloung told Sowetan that Lerato, a lesbian, was allegedly killed by her drinking buddies. He said Lerato was with the two men at a tavern on Saturday night.
“They were her friends. She hung out with them every weekend.
“I saw them with her at about 1am on Saturday. They had an argument over R20 at the tavern,” he said.
Motloung said when he learned that Lerato was killed he hunted down the men together with other community members.
“They were the last people seen with her so we knew it was them. A video footage at the tavern also showed them with her. We found one of them at a shack and handed him over to the police where he revealed his accomplice,” he said.
Lerato’s grieving stepfather Thami Khumalo, 54, said: “Someone came here on Sunday morning and took me to the scene. Her body was laying there with two big rocks on her head and upper body. I could tell that the jacket belonged to her but I could not see her face until the forensic team removed the big rock.
“The level of brutality was shocking. I can’t stop thinking about her.” Lerato’s devastated mother, Zodwa Moloi, said Lerato was her only child.
“I last saw her alive on Saturday night when she came to fetch a jacket. She said she would be back,” Zodwa said.
She said she would miss her daughter’s bubbly personality.
“People nicknamed her ‘Tambai’. She was talkative and very friendly. My heart is broken.”
Zodwa said her daughter was a temporary worker at BiG, a stationery company.
LGBTI rights activist Zandile Motsoeneng said she believed Lerato’s murder was a hate crime.
“She was killed by people she knew and trusted. We believe it was a hate crime motivated by her sexual orientation... most important, she was a woman killed by men,” she said.
Motsoeneng was among dozens of women who gathered at the court to condemn the spate of attacks on women.
“The level of brutality was shocking”