Young makeup artist dies after beating
THE family of a young Port Elizabeth makeup artist who died at the weekend from the injuries she sustained in a brutal beating, are hoping her attacker will be arrested soon.
Ntombozuko Peter, 29, of Joe Slovo Township, died in Livingstone Hospital just after 4pm on Sunday.
Police said the initial case of attempted murder had been changed to murder.
Yesterday, family and friends gathered at the Peters’ family home in KwaMagxaki, where Peter’s sisters Nombulelo Peter, 32, and Xabisokazi Tom, 37, said their younger sibling did not deserve such a violent death.
“She was such a beautiful, vibrant, bubbly person,” Tom said.
“She was a makeup artist and loved working with people.
“She always helped us to look our best for special occasions. “She did not deserve this.” According to Nombulelo, they used to spend a lot of time together as a family even though Peter had worked at a luxury lodge near Grahamstown.
“But in recent months, she had become distant,” Nombulelo said.
“She had started seeing a new man and moved out of our house. There were [allegedly] signs of abuse and she quit her job.
“We started seeing less and less of her.”
However, Peter still visited the family home from time to time. On Friday, she had stopped by to do laundry.
“Everything seemed fine. She spent time with the family and only left late in the afternoon,” Nombulelo said.
However, at about 2pm on Saturday, a nurse at Livingstone Hospital, who is a friend of the family’s, phoned the Peters and told them to get to the hospital as fast as possible.
“The nurse said someone had dropped Ntombozuko off at Livingstone, and that she was unconscious and in a very bad condition,” a tearful Xabisokazi said.
“When we got there, she was on life support and still unconscious. “She never woke up again. “Some of the family [members were] there on Sunday and she passed away just after 4pm.”
According to the sisters, Peter’s car also went missing at the weekend and was found yesterday afternoon, not far from where she had been staying.
Xabisokazi said the family had its own suspicions about who the culprit was and had shared them with police.
She said it was now in the hands of the police to find the person responsible and make an arrest.
“We just want justice, even if it is someone else and not the person we suspect,” she said.
“We just want someone to be brought to justice for what was done to our sister.”
Police spokesman Captain Andre Beetge confirmed that the case had been changed from attempted murder to murder after Peters died.
“We can confirm that the injuries she sustained are consistent with an assault,” he said.
“We have spoken to the family and have taken into account their theories of who could be behind the assault.
“We are following up leads and are looking for a suspect, but cannot say more at this stage.”