Kindly church elder murdered
A DEVOTED Tongaat church elder will be laid to rest today after he was murdered, allegedly by workmen he hired to clean the surrounds of his church.
Ronnie Moonsamy’s family, including two of his three daughters, who live in the US, and his only son, Reuben, will be present when he is cremated at the Verulam Crematorium this afternoon.
The 65-year-old Moonsamy, a successful businessman, was reported missing by his panic stricken wife Sylvie, 62, on Tuesday night.
According to the police, on Monday Moonsamy had hired men to cut overgrown grass near a classroom at the Belfrost Primary School, which his church had used as a place of worship for 21 years.
Moonsamy was then allegedly “lured” back to the school, on Tuesday afternoon, by one of the workers who claimed to have misplaced his cellphone while working there.
He honoured the meeting at the school but didn’t return home. Moonsamy’s body was found the next day, concealed under a metal sheet and bags of cut grass in the schoolyard. He had beeen strangled and stabbed.
The vehicle he drove on Monday and his other personal possessions were also reported missing.
SAPS spokesman Major Thulani Zwane confirmed the killing and the arrest of two suspects.
A police source close to the investigation, who asked not to be named, said an informer and cellphone tracking technology had been used to arrest the suspects.
According to Reuben, his parents were driving home from Ballito on Sunday when his father noticed two men with grass cutting equipment, walking along the roadside.
He approached them, negotiated a price for their services and agreed to meet them at the school so they could do the work the next morning.
The two men, and three other labourers, worked alongside Moonsamy on Monday.
Moonsamy and the men ate a meal together, prepared by Sylvie, before completing the work, which took about four hours.
“My dad received the call from one of the workers about the cellphone on Tuesday afternoon. My mum wanted to accompany him but he refused,” said Reuben.
Lawrence Moodley, Moonsamy’s brother-in-law said: “Ronnie was a very successful businessman who was very kind hearted and also very committed to church work. His death will be a huge blow to his family and the community he served.”