MORE than a hundred women descended on the Bellville Magistrate’s Court yesterday where the husband of 35-year-old Nosicelo Tsipa appeared in connection with her murder.
Tsipa’s body was found in a shallow grave near a river in Greenville, about half a kilometre away from her home in Fisantekraal, near Kraaifontein, on Tuesday.
The mother of one’s body was partially burnt but it was not clear how she had died. However, the murder case against her husband, Babsie Ntamehlo has been postponed to September 21 pending further investigations. Ntamehlo made a brief appearance in the empty courtroom wearing a rain jacket and blue jeans.
According to community leader Elaine Hartzenberg, children swimming at the river witnessed “a man burying a body and immediately went to tell adults, and police were called”.
Hartzenberg said the couple allegedly fought on Saturday night before Tsipa met her untimely death.
“They were fighting around 8pm and the children were playing outside. When the children went inside, they asked where the mother was and the man said she had gone somewhere. The next day, he drove her out in a wheelie bin to dump the body.”
Tsipa, like thousands of other women, is a victim of the devastating scourge of gender-based violence.
Hartzenberg also told Weekend Argus that the community was calling for the suspect to be refused bail.
“It is the first time something like this happens in our community and, I must say, will be the last. He must not get bail and justice must take its course,” she said.
Tsipa was described by her cousin Yandiswa as a “hard-working and dedicated mother, sister and friend”.
“Her parents passed away a few years ago and she was left to raise her two siblings. Her younger brother completed matric just last year,” she said.
Yandiswa also claimed that Tsipa had been in an abusive marriage.
“They have been married for over 15 years because they were already married when they had their child. We don’t have all the facts of what happened now, but the neighbour confirmed that she heard her cry, as she always did, but did not think he had killed her,” explained Yandiswa.
Police spokesperson Colonel Andrè Traut confirmed the arrest.
“The circumstances surrounding the death of a 35-year-old woman are being investigated after her body was discovered in Greenville, Durbanville on Tuesday night. The suspect, a 41-year-old man, was arrested on Wednesday and he is due in court today (yesterday). The exact cause of her death and the motive are yet to be established,” he said.
A neighbour and friend described Tsipa as a “respectable, neat housewife with a good sense of fashion”.
“We can’t believe she is gone; she recently lost her job due to lockdown but always did everything she could to provide for her family,” she said.
Tsipa’s murder comes just days after Viwe Mpafa, charged with the murder of 22-year-old Nomvuzo Atoli, abandoned bail at the Athlone Magistrate’s Court last Friday.