Vineyard bodies identified

The bodies of Nokulunga Condwa, left, and Zimasa Mandzingana were found in a vineyard in Rawsonville.

The bodies of Nokulunga Condwa, left, and Zimasa Mandzingana were found in a vineyard in Rawsonville.

Published Jan 16, 2013

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Cape Town - Police have identified the two women who were found murdered in a vineyard near Rawsonville.

The women, Zimasa Mandzingana, 21, and Nokulunga Condwa, 18, both of Zwelethemba township in Worcester, were discovered on Witelsboom farm half-naked with multiple stab wounds on January 1, three days after they were last seen by their families.

Police spokesman Captain Frederick Van Wyk said on Tuesday that the motive for the murder was still unknown and that the police investigation was continuing. No arrests have been made.

A farmworker found the women propped up against a fence, dressed only in their T-shirts and with severe facial swelling.

When the Cape Argus visited Mandzingana’s home on Tuesday, her grandmother, Nowesile Mandzingana, 64, said she was still in shock.

She said she last saw her granddaughter on Saturday, December 29, at about 3pm.

“She told us she was going around the corner to a friend’s house.

“We thought she would be back later in the evening as she normally does, but this time she didn’t come back.”

The next day, Nowesile and Mandzingana’s mother, Phumeza, reported her missing to the police.

Nowesile said the police told them about two women who were discovered on a farm in the region.

“When they showed us pictures with the two women it didn’t look like (Mandzingana). Their faces were round and swollen, and their hair was a mess,” she said.

The family later identified Mandzingana by her necklace and the clothes found at the scene - a pair of brown pants and a cream shirt.

At Condwa’s home, her mother, Nomantombazani, 52, said the two friends left her house at about 8pm carrying only their cellphones.

“They told me they were coming right back.

“I didn’t like that they were leaving in the evening, but they were going to a shebeen across the road… they are quite familiar with the owner,” she said.

Condwa’s elder sister Phethiwe, 29, said the owner of the Silver House shebeen told the family that she spoke to Condwa just before midnight as they were leaving her sheeben.

She said they told her that they were on their way to a farm.

They didn’t give details of who they were with or which farm they were going to.

“They didn’t deserve to die like this,” she said.

Anyone with information is requested to call investigating officer Warrant Officer Gideon Geldenhuys at 079 497 4992.

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