Durban - A 73-year-old man appeared in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday after he allegedly hacked to death his 46-year-old girlfriend and her two grandchildren.
Themba Mkhize allegedly used a machete to kill Thule Khanyisile Sibiya and her grandchildren, Nomcebo, 8, and Amahle, 5, on Monday in Hopeville outside Pietermaritzburg.
He opted not to apply for bail and the matter was adjourned until next year for further investigation.
According to Themba’s sister, Thembisile Mkhize, who lived in a different house but in the same yard, he woke her at about 2am telling her there were bodies in his house.
“At first, I thought he was joking because we had all been drinking the night before, it was not until I walked into his house and saw the bodies. He opened the door for us and I screamed when I saw the children’s bodies on the ground. Their gran was by the toilet outside. I think maybe she was trying to get away. He told us he didn’t know who had done this. When it became light, we saw his clothes were bloodied,” she said.
Thembisile said Themba and Sibiya had only been dating for three days, adding Sibiya had broken up with her boyfriend of 16 years to be with Themba.
Sibiya’s daughter, Dolly Zuma, said her mother left home on December 3 but didn’t return. She heard she had been living with Themba.
Zuma explained on Sunday, her mother had gone past the home of her other daughter, the mother of the dead children, and the children cried wanting to leave with her.
“That's how the children came to go with her, only to get killed in such a brutal manner. We rushed Nomcebo to Edendale hospital where she died. The doctors tried to save her life, but she was too badly injured, having been struck four times on the head with the machete. Her entire body had wounds from being slashed with the machete. We have never seen anything like this.”
Bobbi Bear, which helps sexually abused children in Amanzimtoti, has described the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence in 2020 as the worst in many years with an increase in the number of murders and rape of women and children.
The organisation’s founder, Jackie Brandfield, said they were tired of picking up broken children and bodies covered in blood and semen while money was poured into the 16 days campaign that was not yielding any fruit.
She said this year was the worst and Bobbi Bear has deliberately refused invitations to events related to the campaign.
“We used to go and give presentations, but we have stopped. Government funds these events and we stopped attending because we want that money to go to the women and children affected. We are just too busy attending to cases on the ground.”
The NGO’s director, Eureka Olivier, said they were fed up with money being given to government departments to run these campaigns.
“Why can’t that money be divided among organisations on the ground working with these women and children, so we can feed these children that we rescue at 2am and sometimes 3am. Right now, we don’t have a nappy in the house if we have a baby come in. We are tired of these campaigns, when we are on the ground picking up the broken children.”
Social Development MEC Nonhlanhla Khoza said people viewed grandfathers as symbols of protection.
“This incident is one I never imagined would take place. We want to see justice done with a harsh and lengthy sentence.”
The Daily News