Slain student called friend before stabbing
Family demands answers
The family of slain college student Precious Ramabulana wants answers from her murderer regarding her senseless killing.
Ramabulana’s aunt Mavis Sitholimela, 50, told Sowetan yesterday that the family wants the suspect to get arrested swiftly so that “he can tell the world why he murdered her”.
“We want answers why he killed her and for what. No one in the family is accepting her senseless death.
“She was respectful and the brightest in the family and very devoted to church,” she said.
Yesterday, President Cyril Ramaphosa called on police to intensify the manhunt for the killer and to ensure the perpetrator is apprehended and brought to book swiftly.
“The savagery inflicted on this young woman, she was reportedly stabbed 52 times, points to a level of depravity that is beyond the comprehensible.
“We are horrified at yet another killing of an innocent woman, and we are angry, this simply cannot go on,” Ramaphosa said.
He has directed minister of police Bheki Cele to avail all the necessary resources to support local police in the search for the killer.
“Whoever committed this brutal act must know that there is no corner for you to hide. You will be found, you will be tried, and you will receive the highest penalty,” Ramaphosa said.
Provincial police spokesperson Brig Motlafela Mojapelo said Ramabulana, 21, was asleep in her rented room at GaJoel, a section of Mokomene village in Botlokwa, when the suspect gained entry through the window.
He said the suspect then stabbed her several times and fled from the scene.
Sitholimela said Precious death has cut deep. She was murdered on Sunday, a day before writing her last exam paper for her final year in college.
“... she was supposed to write her last paper after which should have completed a diploma. I’m certain she wrote all her exams well hence I’m convinced that she would have passed,” she said.
Sitholimela said the family had expected Precious to start employment next year “so she can take us out of the abject poverty”.
“Precious has shown to be a responsible and matured young girl. With little money she was getting from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, she managed to save and bought her disabled mother a bed and a wardrobe.
“What breaks us even more is [the fact] that we were hoping that one day she would work and be able to take care of her mother,” said
Sitholimela.
On Monday, Ramaphosa launched the annual 16 Days of Activism of No Violence Against Women and Children in Lephalale, Limpopo, where he updated the nation on progress in implementing the National Emergency Response Plan to combat genderbased violence and femicide.
I’m convinced she would have passed