‘Ex-lover killed my son to hurt me’
Schoolboy’s dad tells of threat
THANDAZA Mankayi, the father of one of the two boys allegedly murdered by his ex-girlfriend, yesterday rushed from the scene where his son’s decomposed body was found, to the Durban Magistrate’s Court to confront her.
But he arrived just after Amahle Bongiwe Maliwa, 28, had appeared in court faced with two counts each of murder, kidnapping and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Best friends Luyanda Msomi and Njabulo Mankayi, both aged 10, were Grade 3 pupils at Clairwood Boys’ Primary school. They were reported missing when they failed to return home from school last Thursday.
Members of the K9 unit and the SAPS search and rescue unit searched for them, first finding the body of Luyanda in the thick bushes near Clairwood railway station on Saturday. Njabulo’s body was recovered from a culvert yesterday.
Mankayi, who is married, said in an interview with the Daily News outside court yesterday that he had been in a relationship with Maliwa for the past three years and that their relationship broke down about four weeks ago.
He said they had a quarrel over money and about her disrespecting his wife. “When I broke up with her, she did not take it well,” he said.
Mankayi said although Maliwa’s four children were not his, he used to give her R1 000 a month.
However, because of financial problems he could not give her money last month. He claimed that she threatened to do something to hurt him.
He said he was so angry after he identified his son’s body, that he wanted to confront Maliwa.
“I wanted to ask her why she killed my son and his best friend. But most importantly, I wanted to tell her that what she did to the children was unforgivable,” Mankayi said.
He could not believe the brutality inflicted on his son by somebody who was supposed to be like a mother to him. “I believe she did what she did to get back at me for breaking up with her,” he said.
Mankayi said the body of his son was found with bruises to the head, which indicated that he had been beaten up.
“My son was still wearing his full school uniform, with his shoes and socks still on.”
It is alleged that Luyanda had witnessed Njabulo’s murder and was killed to silence him.
Thembinkosi Maliti, 37, Luyanda’s distraught father, who was also in court yester- day, said he had dropped the boys at school at about 6.30am on Thursday.
“They were supposed to take public transport back home that afternoon as usual. But when they did not come home, I was worried. On Friday I, along with the family of Njabulo, opened a missing person’s case,” he said.
“When my son was found dead, we started putting pieces of information together and it became clear who the suspect was,” he said.
Maliwa was taken for questioning on Saturday and detained. Another woman and a Malawian traditional healer were also arrested and were expected to appear in court today.
Members of the community who packed the courtroom yesterday said Maliwa should be locked away in jail for the rest of her life. She is expected back in court next Monday.
Daily News reporter Zainul Dawood writes that furious residents at Khayelitsha informal settlement in Horse Shoe Road, Clairwood, where Malima lived, vented their frustration by looting her home on Friday.
When he visited the house, her belongings were strewn inside and outside. Residents also smashed two windows and gouged a hole into the asbestos wall. They protested outside the court yesterday.