Murder at popular guesthouse

CAPE ARGUS

Vicky Ntozini, pictured, owner of Vicky's B&B, died after being stabbed, allegedly by a relative. Photo: Thomas Holder

Cape Town - The owner of a successful B&B in Khayelitsha was murdered in the early hours of on Wednesday morning.

Vicky Ntozini, owner of Vicky’s B&B, died after being stabbed, allegedly by a relative.

“It was between 1 and 2 am. I heard my mother screaming for help and ran upstairs into her bedroom. [He] was on top of her, choking her. There was already a lot of blood at the time. I asked [him] to stop but he wouldn’t,” the woman’s 16-year-old daughter told the Cape Argus on Thursday morning.

“When my mother was dead, he walked into another room and stabbed himself.”

The man survived the attempted suicide and is recovering in Khayelitsha hospital.

The daughter said that there was no indication that there was friction between Ntozini and the man before she was killed.

Ntozini was described by her sister, Noweli Mbeki, as a stalwart in Khayelitsha’s Site C community.

“Her business brought a lot of money and opportunity to the people here. She always prepared Christmas presents for the local kids,” she said.

“She would also take the kids on heritage tours of Cape Town: Robben Island, Table Mountain… She was such a loving person.”

Ntozini started Vicky’s B&B in 1998. It has been a popular destination for foreign tourists holidaying in Cape Town’s biggest township.

On the B&B’s website it says Ntozini received visitors from NGOs and helped to organise short-term volunteer programmes for guests.

The website of local tour agency Nomvuyo’s Tours recommends Vicky’s B&B: “Make sure you put it high on your list of to-dos when visiting Cape Town, or more specifically Khayelitsha… It has become a family-run business, and the warmth and hospitality is something that needs to be experienced first-hand.”

Police spokesman Captain FC van Wyk confirmed that Ntozini died of stab wounds and that a relative was the main suspect in the murder.

“The suspect was taken to hospital for medical treatment. No arrest has been made.

“A murder case was opened for investigation,” he said.

Cape Argus