Family of woman shot dead say they failed her
THE family of a Limpopo woman, who was shot dead – allegedly by her boyfriend – have blamed themselves for her death, saying they ignored her warnings and pleas for help.
They said before Tshepo Rakoma was sprayed with bullets, in the parking lot of a shopping centre in Polokwane, on Thursday last week, she had pleaded for their intervention.
Warning that the father of her three children had allegedly made threats against her over her decision to end their relationship, she told them the suspect was “stalking her”. The 32-year-old bank employee was killed while sitting in her car, during her lunch break, sparking a public outcry and again bringing gender-based violence in the country into the spotlight.
Narrating their ordeal to Pretoria News yesterday, at Seshego Township near Polokwane, Rakoma’s sister Tebogo, and her aunt Aletta Lephalala, said the deceased had given them several warnings, days before she was brutally murdered, that her life was in danger – because her taxi-driver boyfriend, of eight years, had allegedly become increasingly abusive.
The suspect was arrested at the scene, on charges of murder and possession of an unlicensed firearm, Limpopo police said. This was after he climbed on top of the roof of the parking lot and allegedly threatened to commit suicide by jumping from the roof.
According to the family, the accused allegedly began stalking Rakoma when left him because of his “violent nature”. They said she further told them that the 34-yearold suspect had turned against her after they started experiencing financial difficulties, which forced them to move back into a room in her mother’s house in Seshego.
The couple had three children, but were not married, the family said. Things went from bad to worse, after the suspect apparently failed to keep up with the monthly repayments on his taxi due to Covid-19-related restrictions on load capacity, the family said.
Lephalala said Rakoma’s final warning came 24-hours before her brutal murder.
“She said to us that ‘you guys are going to bury me if nothing is done … I think he is stalking me at work, because I feel like someone is following me,’” Lephalala said.
It is alleged that Rakoma had locked herself in the car when the suspect allegedly shot her five times, including in the head, with the unlicensed firearm.
“We listened to her too late. We failed her. We could have stopped this if we had reacted sooner,” Tebogo said. She added that Rakoma’s 63-year-old mother was not coping with the loss of her daughter, and would be receiving counselling as soon as possible.
This was because the elderly woman had rushed to the scene, after receiving a phone call that her daughter may have been involved in a shooting incident.
The family disputed a police statement that Rakoma was in her car with a third person, who fled the scene during the shootout.
Limpopo police spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo said: “Preliminary information and reports indicated that she was allegedly with another person, who fled, but whether this is true will be determined by the unfolding police investigations.”
Chairperson of NGO Women Taking Back Safety, Thalamsindo Raputu, said they were “disturbed and bleeding”. “At a time when we reclaim our rightful self, we are still being killed … the best we can do now is to support the family and give them counselling.”