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Nosicelo Mtebeni’s alleged murderer to appear in court

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The 25-year-old man accused of the murder of his 23-year-old girlfriend Nosicelo Mtebeni will appear at the East London Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

Mtebeni was brutally murdered in a house at Quigney and her body dismembered.

The Commission for Gender Equality and other women’s rights groups as well as University of Fort Hare students are expected to gather outside the court calling for justice.

Mtebeni’s family says her death has left them traumatised. Family spokesperson Teboho Mtebeni says Nosicelo was the beacon of hope for her family.

“As the family of Nosicelo Mtebeni, we are truly so hurt. We are truly so hurt. I cannot even express my feelings about it. We were looking forward to that she is going to change the situation within the family, but now it is not going to happen, she is no more.”

A night vigil for Nosicelo Mtebeni:

The incident has also shocked the community of Nosicelo’s home village, Khauoe in Matatiele, who say they found out about her death through social media.

A community member has called on people to stop sharing gruesome images on social media platforms.

“We are not happy about the social media in this country. We have just seen gruesome images on social media without being told what actually happened. We were hoping that the police will inform the family and the community in a decent manner but the images were just all over, we are not happy at all.”

Prayer service

Community members from Quigney held a short prayer session to show solidarity for Mtebeni.

A local church leader who led the prayer service, Pastor Corne Pretorious, says the incident has shocked the community and as the church, they want to bring hope to residents and her family.

“There are so many things that have happened over the past couple of years in our neighbourhood, in our nation and this senseless murder has just highlighted that again. Especially just the marginalisation of women, of the young and vulnerable. We are just saying as the church, you know what we are so much better than this. There is hope for this nation, but we have to listen to the voiceless. We have to listen to our women, we have to listen to our young people, the youth, to our students that are crying out and saying we are desperate, we feel unsafe.”

Meanwhile, the caretaker at the residence where the suspect and the deceased stayed, Phumeza Qwabe, says the incident has shocked them. She added that tenants at the house are not coping with the incident.

“My tenants are not coping, they can’t sleep at night, it has affected them and I think they will need counselling. Because there are people who are staying with children, there are women who stay around here and they are thinking am I next. I think we are all going to need counselling after this.”

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