Mother battles with murder of daughter

As tiny Melokuhle Ngwenya was buried yesterday, her mother struggled to come to terms with why her two-year-old daughter was killed in such a horrible manner.

“I don’t understand why something like this could happen,” said a crying Zandi Ngwenya.

Melokuhle went missing on April 3 and was found dead in the dustbin of a neighbour's home. She had been strangled.

“I realised she was missing at about 12pm. I had left her with my grandfather and went to a shop to buy something quickly. When I came back, she wasn’t at home,” Zandi said.

“When I asked my neighbour, she said she didn’t know, and that the child could be on the streets playing with other kids.”

Zandi said her daughter was always playing with other children at her neighbour's home.

“I went to the police to report her missing and the police found her in the dustbin of my neighbour’s yard around 6pm. A sniffer dog led police to my neighbour.”

"I'm heartbroken. I didn't expect my neighbour to be the person responsible for the death of my child. My child always plays at my neighbour's house because they sell snacks and most of the children from the community would play there. I've known them for so long and I'm just shuttered that a person I know would do this," said Zandi.

"My child was found six hours after she told me she didn't know where she was," added Zandi.

Police said two Mozambican nationals, a man and a woman, were arrested for the murder. The duo lived adjacent to Melokuhle's home.

Lt-Col Mavela Masondo said investigations led to the arrest, and that the couple had appeared in the Heidelberg magistrate’s court on Monday.

The murder, and subsequent arrests, has seen the angry community of Ratanda in Heidelberg rampage businesses owned by Mozambican nationals since last Wednesday.

Many shops have been forced to close, and business owners were now trying to salvage what was left after the violence broke out in Ext 6.

Mozambican national and salon owner Fabian Mazivila said he had locked up after 6pm last Wednesday when community members broke the sliding door. Yesterday he was still contemplating his future in the area.

“They took everything ... products, equipment and mirrors. They even went to the back room where I stay and took my fridge, bed, everything, and set them on fire,” said Mazivila. 

He said they felt sorry for what has happened to Melokuhle.

"No parents wants to lose a child. We are heartbroken. We have reached out to the family and we also made a collection to pay for the funeral," said Mazivila.

He said the residents did not touch him when the attacked his shop, but he watched as they burnt his things, afraid he might be injured if he intervened. “It’s going to cost me close to R6,000 to get everything I lost. I don’t even know how I am going to get that money.” 

Having lived in the community for 10 years, Mazivila said the attack was unprecedented and that he still fears for his life.

Alex Ma Million salon manager Gift Sithole said they were not spared. “I was standing by the gate; I had locked the gate and everything around 8pm. They asked the landlord to open the gate as they weren’t there to hurt him, but to get to the shop and he opened it. They smashed the sliding door and stripped the salon.” 

Sithole said after taking everything out of the salon, they burnt the items and took the remaining scraps with them. “A month, we make close to R20,000 ... and we don’t even know how many months it will take to repair the shop or whether we will be able to. We employed around eight people from the two shops, but now we have to let them go because of what happened.” . 

Community member Lindiwe Khithika said what happened to Melokuhle was devastating, but it should not have led to the salons being attacked. “The attack was unnecessary because the same people they attacked are the same people they get their haircuts from. Looking at Alex Ma Million, everyone goes there. It’s the top salon in the community and yet they attacked it.

“It is unfair to those people and the rest of the community because one could tell that it was an attack done to get money by nyoape boys,” said Khithika.

No arrests were made on the attacks on businesses.