Kimberley - A 32-year-old Galeshewe resident appeared in court on Monday on charges of murder and arson after he allegedly set his girlfriend’s shack alight with her still trapped inside.
Portia Thembani, 33, from Nkandla, was buried on Saturday after succumbing to extensive burn wounds in the Kimberley Hospital.
Her boyfriend, Eric Dames, allegedly torched her shack, with her still locked inside, in the early hours of the morning of Sunday, December 4.
Dames made a brief appearance on the two charges in the Galeshewe Magistrate’s Court on Monday afternoon and will remain in custody until January next year, when he is expected to make a formal bail application.
The family of the deceased were on Monday still coming to terms with the death of the mother of two. Her brother, Neo, said that his sister came to his home in Club 2000 just days before the incident and expressed concern about her safety.
“Portia had previously come to us and said that he (Dames) had been harassing her and that she was very worried that he might do something to her,” the deceased’s brother said. “We went to the police in an attempt to obtain an interdict against him but the police were unable to help us because we did not know his shack number.”
According to Thembani’s cousin, Nomsa Dwasi, the two became romantically involved after working together at the home of a local businessman, but their relationship soured when Portia apparently threatened to inform their employer that Dames had been stealing from him.
“We do not know Eric very well because he had not been involved with Portia for long,” said Dwasi. “My cousin worked as a cleaner while Eric worked in the garden.
“As I understand it, the main reason why she feared for her safety was because Eric had allegedly stolen property from his employer and he was afraid that Portia was going to expose him.
“For this reason she asked a neighbour to lock her in her shack so that it would appear as if nobody was home.
“She must have been sleeping at the time of the incident and she had no way of getting out,” Dwasi said.
“By the time we got there, there was nothing left of the shack. Portia died six days later in hospital.”
Neo described his sister as the doting mother of two, a hardworking and loving person with a wonderful sense of humour.
“Her children are 11 and 14 years old and are struggling to come to terms with the loss of their mother,” he added.
“Portia and I had a great relationship and we are all going to miss her terribly.”
The family thanked Operation Wanya Tsotsi and the community for assisting in apprehending the accused. “We are extremely grateful for all the help and support we received from all our neighbours and the whole community during this very difficult time,” Dwasi said.
“We would like to thank members of Wanya Tsotsi in particular as the accused would possibly still be on the run had they not managed to track him down.”