Missing KZN woman found dead in Witbank
AFTER having last made cellphone contact with Fezile Qhawekazi Nxumalo on March 25, who had left home to visit her boyfriend in Witbank, a northern KwaZulu-Natal family was still reeling after the mother of a threeyear-old was found dead.
Nonkululeko Ndlela said that her cousin Fezile Qhawekazi Nxumalo left their homestead in Ogedlini, in Nongoma, on March 22, to visit her boyfriend, who was not the father of her toddler, Abelwa Nsele.
She said that on arrival in Mpumalanga, Nxumalo had messaged saying she had arrived safely. The next day her cousin sent a WhatsApp message which she did not respond to until late on March 24.
“On March 25, when our cousin, Khanyezile Mngomezulu, contacted Fezile by WhatsApp, complaining to her that she never contacted them when she was visiting her boyfriend, Fezile’s reply was that she was being watched and was not allowed to be on her phone chatting. She also sent a voice note saying that she was being beaten by the man she was visiting, and that even the neighbours knew that a month doesn’t go by without her being beaten,” said Ndlela.
Yesterday, Ndlela said she could not give more details and the paper would have to contact the police.
Fezile had been found dead, however, her toddler was alive and had sustained a stab wound.
Ndlela said that the family had learnt about this from the police on Wednesday afternoon.
She said Nxumalo had meant to return home on April 4, adding that the last time anyone had contact with her was on March 25.
“Khanyezile kept trying to reach Fezile on WhatsApp and on Facebook, but her phone was off. On April 7, Khanyezile gave birth and she tried phoning her (Fezile) but couldn’t get hold of her. She then contacted the boyfriend and sent a message to pass on to Fezile that she had given birth, and it was the response she got that she felt that it was unlike Fezile, and she became suspicious as she would have expected Fezile to at least use the boyfriend’s phone to make a call to her in excitement,” said Ndlela.
It was not until May 8 that Khanyezile alerted the family that she had not been able to speak directly to Fezile since March 25.
“When our male cousins phoned the boyfriend, he told them that Fezile was fine where she was with the toddler. He then asked to speak to her later that afternoon when the boyfriend was home. When my cousin did phone in the afternoon, the boyfriend answered, saying he did not know where they were and,after that would not answer his phone,” said Ndlela.
Mpumalanga police had not responded by the time of publication.