Johannesburg - ‘I love you, mommy and I don't want to leave you,” said Keamogetswe Sefularo.
Then the Grade 10 pupil of Lukhanyo Secondary School in Mohlakeng told her mother she was tired and asked her to take off her shoes. Then silence. The quiet and loving 14-year-old, who wanted to become an air hostess, was dead.
Keamogetswe succumbed to four stab wounds to her chest, throat, and two to her abdomen – murdered in what has been described as a “satanic killing” in Mohlakeng Extension 7 on Orient Street on Friday.
Keamogetswe was still alive when she was found in bushy veld in Extension 7 on Orient Street, situated between the school and her home.
She lay among the filth of discarded nappies, dried faeces and construction rubble.
She was soaked in her own blood and wet from the rain that had just fallen.
Her father Philemon said his daughter was coming back from school when a friend allegedly told her that her other friends were looking for her.
The friend accompanied her to meet the others but suggested they use a different route to the bushes.
When they arrived, the girls allegedly said:
“We are Satanists and we are about to kill you,” said the distraught father.
Keamogetswe was stabbed first in the chest, and when she fell to the ground, one of her attackers sat on top of her and slit her throat. The attacker, her known friend, continued to stab her in the abdomen while others watched.
According to reports, the 14-year-old's brother, Zali Nxabi, 28, was told that two girls had sucked Keamogetswe’s blood from the wound on her neck.
Nxabi told Times Live that his sister's friend had stormed into their home on Saturday while the family was holding a prayer meeting.
"We recorded everything she told us and about how they were instructed by their 'leader' to kill Keamo,” Nxabi was quoted as saying.
"She (the friend) said the leader and the girl who did the stabbing sucked Keamo's blood from (a wound) on her neck."
It’s still unclear how many girls were present during the attack.
Keamogetswe survived to tell her mother, who was called to the scene by a passer-by, the harrowing tale and to give the names of her alleged attackers.
A day after the attack, a young girl arrived and confessed. She was also in possession of Keamogetswe’s cellphone, but its sim card was missing and its memory card destroyed.
On Tuesday, shocked neighbours gathered at the Sefularos’ home, vowing revenge.
“We want them burnt but we first want to remove all their toes so they can know and understand pain,” said a woman who did not want to be identified.
Gauteng MEC of Education Barbara Creecy visited the school on Tuesday and confirmed that 10 pupils who have been identified as being involved in Satanism, although not directly linked with the Keamogetswe’s murder, have been suspended pending the outcome of an investigation.
The chairman of the school governing body, Morake Motsisi, said reports of satanic activities were not new in the area.
Meanwhile, at the Randfontein Magistrate’s Court, the accused pupil was taken to the Walter Sisulu Child and Youth Care Centre to be kept until her next court appearance.
The Star, IOL