Cape Town - A 40-year-old woman died in hospital on Monday after she was allegedly set alight by her partner during a domestic dispute.
Mother of one Jacqueline Mpontsana from Gugulethu was admitted to hospital on Sunday evening with burning wounds from the attack. Family, friends and colleagues had hoped that she would recover from the severe injuries. She died on Monday afternoon.
According to neighbours, the two started arguing in the middle of the night and her partner “doused her with fire”. The suspect fled the scene and is yet to be arrested.
“Our hopes and dreams have been shattered,” said Luvuyo Ndzuzo, a cousin of the dead woman. “We did not expect something like this to happen to her, she fought so hard against gender-based violence, for her to die this way. You burn something that is no longer valuable to you, to us she was valuable. The guy could have let her go if she had no value to him, not just set her alight like she is an item”
“Jacque”, as she was fondly known, worked at the Department of Community Safety. She was first appointed in the Department of Community Safety in 2005 and since then had performed a number of roles. She worked in the section in the department which dealt with complaints against the SAPS, fulfilling the functions of secretary for both the Domestic Violence Compliance Forum and the Ipid Consultative Forum.
Over the years, Jacque had become one of the most experienced staff members in monitoring SAPS compliance in terms of the Domestic Violence Act.
“Our staff and I have really been shaken by this terrible news,” said MEC for community safety Albert Fritz. “What makes her passing especially tragic is that her work entailed inspecting SAPS stations for their compliance to assist victims of domestic and gender-based violence. It is incredibly upsetting. But we have to go on. We cannot surrender in the face of this scourge. We have to keep fighting, for Jacque, and for every other victim like her.”
Her most recent manager, Werner Bezuidenhout, said: “It is for the directorate and me an absolute tragedy that Jacque was allegedly killed by her partner in an act of extreme domestic violence. She was an invaluable member of our team, and she will be sorely missed.”
Police spokesperson Colonel Andrè Traut said: “The circumstances surrounding the murder of a 40-year-old woman are under investigation after she was set alight and killed by her partner during the early hours of Monday around 1.50am, during an apparent domestic dispute at her residence in NY109 Gugulethu. The suspect fled and he is yet to be arrested.”
Any person with information regarding the case is requested to contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111
Weekend Argus