Umhlanga woman found murdered in her home
THE murder of an uMhlanga Rocks woman in her home has sent shock waves through the suburb.
The naked body of Shirley Soffiatini, 63, was found by a neighbour – who did not want to be named – on her bed at 11am yesterday. Her hands and legs were tied and her mouth covered with a cloth, the neighbour said.
Soffiatini’s room had been ransacked.
It is believed that Soffiatini, who lived alone in her Egret Lane home, had been killed on Sunday, the day her neighbour said she had heard a faint noise coming from the bedroom. The handle on the front door had been broken.
A worker at a complex across the house, Vusi Shozi, said he had known Soffiatini for almost 20 years.
“I last saw her over the weekend. I noticed that she had not placed her refuse bags outside yesterday morning. I knew something was amiss,” he said.
“I contacted her neighbour who then tried phoning her. When she did not answer, the neighbour and I approached the house.”
The neighbour accompanied Shozi to the house. They noticed the curtains were drawn. “It was strange because she never closes her curtains,” the neighbour said.
Durban North police responded to the call.
The neighbour said Soffiatini had lived in the area for 23 years.
Ward councillor, Heinz de Boer, said more police manpower and community involvement were needed to combat this type of contact crime.
“It’s unacceptable and everyone involved in crime-fighting initiatives in the area said it was a matter of time before someone died,” De Boer said.
“This is why the DA organised a visit to the Durban North police station earlier this month.”
The DA’s spokeswoman on policing matters, Dianne Kohler Barnard, its provincial safety and security spokesman, Sizwe Mchunu, and MP Haniff Hoosen had visited the Durban North station to find out what could be done to assist the police in dealing with house robberies and house breakins in the northern suburbs.
Last week, an elderly couple were reportedly robbed in their La Lucia home by four men armed with knives. They stole about R8 000, jewellery and a gun.
Police spokesman, Captain Thulani Zwane, said a post-mortem would be conducted to establish if Soffiatini was raped.
“It is alleged that a television and microwave were taken. No arrests have been made,” he said.