Cape Town - A 13-year-old boy and his 10-year-old sister have been left orphaned after their mother, a 46-year-old woman from Covid-19 informal settlement near Mfuleni, was allegedly stabbed and killed by her boyfriend in front of them.
Funeka Memani’s neighbour, Vuyisa Ncume, said he was called after 9pm on Sunday by the children, who told him their father had stabbed their mother for allegedly refusing to see his child. The boyfriend is the father of one of the children.
On arriving at Memani’s yard, Ncume said he found her lying in front of the shack with blood still gushing out of a stab wound to her neck.
Ncume said blood was spattered all over the inside of the shack. He said the children had told him their mother had also been stabbed in her back as she tried to escape.
“We rushed her to Khayelitsha District Hospital, but in just an hour we were informed that she had passed on,” he said.
Ncume said that on numerous occasions the boyfriend had assaulted Ncume and he was always called to intervene. He said the man was expelled from the area after the assaults, as he said the community “feared they would hurt him”.
“It is clear that he returned to finish her off and from what the kids told us, he wanted to take her to his house, outside the area, but she refused.
“Our worry right now is the trauma the kids would suffer from witnessing their mother being butchered by a man they called a father, who has fled. We are told by the lady who took them in that one of the kids has been shouting his mother’s name in his sleep,” he said.
Community leader Luthando Mcuntula said both children were without birth certificates and had never attended school as their mother had no ID.
“Our priority is to first ensure that the kids receive trauma counselling and a home where they would be kept while we are still looking for the mother’s family.
“We call on the Department of Social Development to intervene to also ensure that these kids get birth certificates and that they attend school. The kids have in the interim been taken in by one of the community members who was close to their mother,” he said.
Police spokesperson Joseph Swartboi said Mfuleni police were investigating a case of murder and the suspect was yet to be arrested.
Anyone with information is requested to call Crime Stop on 08600 10111.