At least five women have been killed by their partners in separate incidents across Limpopo since the start of the national lockdown in late March. In the latest incident, 28-year-old Ntwanano Shisana was allegedly shot and killed by her 27-year-old boyfriend who then shot and killed himself.
The Limpopo Social Development Department has appealed to residents to make use of their counselling services when faced with challenges.
Shisana was last seen alive when she and her boyfriend, Wisani Mathonsi, left his home in his car on Saturday evening. A few minutes later, their bullet-ridden bodies were found inside the car on the side of the main road at Bungeni village.
It is alleged that Mathonsi shot her and later shot himself. Both died at the scene.
In this video below, two separate incidents of GBV in Limpopo:
Shisana’s mother, Tsakani Ngoveni, says her daughter had been in an abusive relationship for the past two years. She says the families held several meetings to intervene over the years. She also indicated that she has visited the local police station to get a restraining order against Mathonsi on several occasions.
“I am deeply hurt. My daughter was everything to me. I expected her to improve my life, for her to bury me. I would like to advise other parents that once your child is in a relationship that is abusive this is where it will end. I urge them to go to the police. I also frequented police stations. It just ended in her death,” says Ngoveni.
Mathonsi’s sister, Agnes, says the families have agreed to hold a joint funeral service as soon as the postmortems and permits have been arranged.
“I’m just feeling so sad. We are not happy. Like I’m saying their relationship was so good, but sometimes they’d be fighting but not for all the time,” says Agnes.
In a similar incident, 45-year-old Terresinah Patsu was hacked to death with a sharp object by her 42-year-old partner, Anthony Madzivi, who later hung himself at their home in Makhuvha village in Giyani last month.
In this video below, Botshelo Motsomi’s family distraught following her murder:
In another incident, a man allegedly stabbed his girlfriend to death at Phagameng, Modimolle on Saturday.
Police Spokesperson, Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo says the rise in Gender-Based Violence cases is worrying.
“There’s an apparent upsurge in incidences where husbands are killing wives or girlfriends like the one that happened at Bungeni. We were called when a car found parked along the gravel road in that particular area and the police on arrival they found the bodies of a man and a woman inside and they had bullet wounds. Our preliminary investigations revealed that the two were actually partners and they had marital problems,” says Mojapelo.
Limpopo Social Development MEC, Nkakareng Rakgoale, has advised people to visit their social workers when faced with challenges.
Meanwhile, the community of Gogobole outside Louis Trichardt is in shock after unknown suspects attacked a family yesterday. A 90-year-old woman and her 60-year-old daughter were killed, while a teenager was injured. The suspects were looking for a young man who is a member of the family.
They shot his relatives after accusing them of hiding him. In a separate incident, a 43-year old woman allegedly stabbed her husband to death after finding him with another woman at their home at Kuranta village outside Giyani.
