Grieving Muizenberg High School pupils Chulumanco Ntisa and Grace Ngalula pay tribute to fellow pupil Janet Ntozini during her memorial service yesterday. Ntozini was stabbed to death while defending a disabled 19-year-old in Vrygrond.
Slain teenager ‘put others before herself’
FAMILY, friends and peers of slain Janet Ntozini paid tribute to her bravery during a moving memorial service yesterday.
Janet, 18, was stabbed three times in the back at the start of the month when, according to a witness, she had told a 23-year-old man he could not attack an unarmed, disabled 19-yearold in Vrygrond.
At Muizenberg High School yesterday, where Janet had been a matric pupil, her lust for life and her courage was spoken of by all who took to the podium.
Principal Leonie Jacobsen hailed Janet a hero as she always stood up for what she thought was right.
“She put others before herself, and it’s scarce to come across such selflessness,” Jacobsen said.
Her best friend, Siya Oniwe, said his heart broke when he heard of Janet’s murder.
“My mind keeps asking if she’s really gone. She meant so much to me, she was my Alpha and Omega, my everyday antibiotic. My day was completed once I saw her smile,” Oniwe said.
Grade head Porsche de Villiers said Janet was a natural-born fighter, who dominated on the athletics track. “We salute you,” De Villiers said. Janet’s grandmother Novusile Ntozini had raised her, and said the family was preparing to bury her in the Eastern Cape at the weekend.
“God comforts me with the knowledge that my child died helping a disabled teenager. Thinking about that makes me strong and gives me peace. Janet was a very kind and caring person who did not have an easy upbringing,” Novusile said.
“She was a person who enjoyed peace. Her nature couldn’t stand watching bad things happen to other people, she was always the first to help other people. She died because of helping a person, she always believed in protecting people.”
Her mother Thozama Ntozini said: “I’ve been numb because I haven’t wrapped my head around it. I can’t say I am coping, it stills feels like a dream. Janet did not like going out much, she would come from school, watch TV, eat and sleep.”
Janet’s matric class dedicated the song See You Again by rapper Wiz Khalifa, featuring American singer Charlie Puth, to her.