Kimberley - "When you enter the cemetery, you will find me at the bokom tree ... then you can go to Delport.”
That was the last SMS message a 27-year-old Kimberley man, Thabang Tau, sent to his girlfriend before hanging himself from a tree at the West End Cemetery.
Tau’s girlfriend, Thokozile Mokengwane, said that she and the deceased had a lovers’ quarrel the night before but she never imagined he would kill himself.
“We had a fight about him cheating on me with another girl. I found messages from the other girl on his phone. During our fight, I told him that I was going to leave him and head back home to Delportshoop,” a tearful Mokengwane said yesterday.
Sol Plaatje Municipality spokesperson Sello Matsie said that workers, along with Monkengwane, had discovered Tau’s body after she had enquired at the cemetery where the trees mentioned in the SMS were.
“The workers found the man hanging from the tree. The deceased’s dog did not want to leave the deceased and stayed at the scene until the family arrived,” said Matsie.
Matsie urged those having any psychological problems to seek assistance.
“There is help out there no problem should overwhelm us in such a manner that we kill ourselves. Please seek help,” he said.
“We will also assist in the counselling of the cemetery workers who discovered the body. This incident is traumatic.”
Police spokesperson Captain Tessa Jansen confirmed the incident.
“A 27-year-old man committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree at the West End Cemetery,” said Jansen.
“At around 9.30am his girlfriend received a message that he was at the cemetery. She went to the cemetery and the workers showed her the tree. They saw the dog lying on the ground and the body hanging from the tree. The incident followed after an argument the couple apparently had the night before.
“The cellphone number of the deceased was written on the ground.”