Cape Town - Nosandiso Bunzi had not seen her son Melikhaya for two days and when she finally laid eyes on him he was in a body bag.
Melikhaya Bunzi, 29, was allegedly beaten and stoned to death in a mob justice attack in Philippi on Sunday.
His body was found along busy Govan Mbeki Road, not far from his home. At the scene there were still traces of blood, sticks and rocks.
Melikhaya had served a jail sentence a few years ago.
“It doesn’t matter what your child was, you still feel the pain when something happens to them. They are still your child,” Nosandiso Bunzi said.
Bunzi said she had rushed to the scene with other family members and found the body surrounded by bystanders, but none could provide answers.
“No one seemed to know what happened. I think this happened in the morning when everyone was asleep.
“He was beaten up badly. I think they also tried to set him alight because his jacket was burnt. I don’t know why he was killed. Only the person who did this knows why they killed Melikhaya,” Bunzi said.
Bunzi said she had last seen her son on Friday before she went to a training workshop.
Her sister had seen Melikhaya at around 1am on Sunday when a friend came to pick him up, she said.
Neighbour Martha Maninzi and other residents visited the family’s home in Crossroads, five minutes away, to console Bunzi.
“(The friend) has disappeared since. He must come with information so that Melikhaya’s mother can have clarity on what happened,” Maninzi said.
It was unclear what the motive behind the attack was but some residents said on Sunday that Melikhaya and a friend had stolen cellphones in Philippi. They said he was then chased by people and caught.
Police spokesman Andrè Traut confirmed they were investigating the death of a 29-year-old man, whose body was found in Govan Mbeki Road.
He said the man had been stabbed.
“A murder case has been opened but no one has been arrested as yet,” Traut said.
He could not provide more details on the incident.
* The Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry probing alleged police inefficiency resumes on Monday after a month-long break.
It also looks at the causes of mob justice. This week the commission will hear evidence from 20 experts on a range of topics including sector policing, police human resource management, resource allocation, institutional culture, crime stats and discipline, among other things.
Top detective Piet Byleveld, Gareth Newham of the Institute for Safety and Security, as well as Jonny Steinberg, who is a scholar of African criminology, are among those expected to give evidence at the commission this week.
Cape Times