Cape Town – “I am fearing for my life. Now they have killed Vovo (her partner's nickname), they will come for me.”
So said an openly lesbian Nqabisa Mkatali, 23, whose partner Noluvo Swelindawo, 22, was shot dead in Driftsands at the weekend after being abducted in a feared hate crime.
Her body was found near a footbridge to Khayelitsha at the side of the N2 on Sunday.
Mkatali said even though she feared for her life, especially after someone held her cousin at gunpoint demanding to know her whereabouts following the incident, she had not been offered protection.
Now she is planning to move to the Eastern Cape and “never come back to Cape Town”.
Mkatali recalled the fatal ordeal on Tuesday, telling the Cape Times how she hid under a bed when a group of men broke in.
She said Swelindawo’s plea for forgiveness “fell on deaf ears” before her life was taken.
Mkatali said one of the men was known to Swelindawo’s family and had assaulted her the day before.
“On Friday we were at a friend’s house. I don’t know when she went outside, but we heard a commotion and when we went to check, she was dusting herself from the ground and had a swollen eye. I went to ask the guy why he assaulted her and why was he behaving like that towards a woman.
“His response was that Vovo must stop taking chances,” said Mkatali.
She said the man followed them home that night, thinking Swelindawo was alone.
A shaken Mkatali said Swelindawo asked her to stay with her for the rest of Saturday as she feared the man would come back.
She said Swelindawo’s older brother was attacked and stabbed when he went to the man’s home to enquire why he assaulted his sister.
“We went to bed fearing what would happen that night. It was not long after her brother left that the windows were shattered by the men who were swearing at us.
“They demanded that we open the door. I told Vovo not to open the door. But when she asked who it was at the door, they stormed in, swearing at her and saying she must come with them to see what she had done.”
"She kept apologising and asking what she had done. She had not done anything because we were both at home for the entire day on Saturday.
“They kept on telling her she was wasting their time as they wanted to take her away. The man who had assaulted her on Friday was holding her by her hair.
“They did not see me because I was lying flat on the ground on my stomach. It was dark. She had refused to switch on the lights, maybe because she did want them to see me.”
The men allowed her to put on some clothes before dragging her out of the shack.
“I followed after them, but it was quiet and dark and I could not see where they had gone.
"I went to seek help from the neighbours. We asked one of the police officers in our neighbourhood to make a call to the police station.
“Some residents started searching around while waiting for the police van. The search was called off. There were lots of gunshots as I was trying to sleep. I heard a loud scream.
"I thought it was her. It was one of our neighbours who informed us about the discovery of Vovo.
“I did not want to go. I could not give a statement on Sunday morning as I was traumatised. I am still shaken. I did not receive counselling yet.”
On Monday night she made a statement to the police.
According to Mkatali, Swelindawo always prayed “for God not to take her” as she was still young and wanted to explore the world.
“We would talk about children. We had a lot of fun. If this is what God wants, then it is fine.
“It's hard being a lesbian in townships. You get labelled a lot of things and that we do not respect men's dignity. Vovo was different, but she always remembered she was a woman.”
On Monday, police made a breakthrough in Swelindawo’s murder case when a 24-year-old suspect was taken into custody.
Police spokesperson FC van Wyk said the suspect is to appear in the Blue Downs Magistrate's Court on Wednesday on charges of kidnapping and murder.