Kids watch as dad kills their mom
Manhunt for dad, a former soldier
Children tried to wipe the blood from their dying mother’s face, in the hope that she would wake up, their grandmother told Sowetan yesterday.
Maletsatsi KutumanAasvoel, 39, was shot and killed in her Ebony Park, Midrand home on Sunday in front of her three children, allegedly by her husband and father of the children, aged seven, 11 and 12.
The 42-year-old former South African National Defence Force (SANDF) officer allegedly held his children hostage for five hours and threatened to kill them before he fled.
Melitha Mofokeng, Kutuman-Aasvoel’s mother, told Sowetan that her grandchildren were hopeful that their mother would wake up after the shooting.
“They didn’t know that she was dead. They wiped away her blood thinking she would wake up,” she said.
She told Sowetan the couple’s relationship was strained because of an impending divorce but did not expect her daughter to be killed.
“The kids said Maletsatsi told him to leave the house because they were preparing to go out for the day. He left the house for a few minutes then returned while my daughter was sitting on the couch,” Mofokeng said. “Then Maletsatsi told him again to leave but he approached her before shooting her in the face.”
Mofokeng said her grandchildren attempted to use their mother’s phone to call the rest of the family.
“He snatched the phones and pointed his firearm at them and told them that they would die the same way their mother died and held them hostage,” Mofokeng said.
She said at the time of the shooting, her son-inlaw was dressed in full military gear and was carrying a pistol and an assault rifle.
“He kept their children here and waited for their mother to die,” she said.
The father then apparently left the children with their mother’s lifeless body lying in a pool of blood.
Mofokeng described her daughter, who worked as a lawyer, as a dignified and responsible person who always placed the needs of her children before her own.
“This man took away the only person who took care of them,” she said.
Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said police were investigating a case of murder and have since launched a manhunt for the suspect.
SANDF spokesman Siphiwe Dlamini said he was not in a position to comment because the alleged perpetrator was no longer with the army.