NKOSINGIPHILE DLADLA and ANELISA KUBHEKA
Durban — The father of a teenage girl who was stabbed to death and suspected to have been raped in her home believes she knew her killer.
Wandile Aphiwe Ngcobo, aged 17, a Grade 11 pupil at Durban Girls Secondary, was found dead in her Umlazi home on Tuesday.
She had been home alone on the day.
Wandile was supposed to have gone to school with her sister Siphosethu who is in Grade 8 but had asked to stay at home so that she could prepare for the mid-year exams.
Mondli Petros Ngcobo, Wandile’s father, said he received a call while he was at work.
“A member from our church told me to urgently go home.
“I phoned my neighbour and asked that she go and check on what happened,” said Ngcobo.
He said his daughter was found dead in the house by a neighbour.
“When I got home I saw her lying there. She had stab wounds on her chest. There was a pool of blood in their room. They took a Hisense television that was mounted on the wall, a DStv decoder, cellphone, her school bag and books,” he said.
Ngcobo said he suspected his daughter was raped and had alerted the doctor at the mortuary who made a note of it.
“I have been told that in the short space of time just after having left for work, they (the assailants) went into the house and took some items.
“They killed my child. They stabbed and murdered her. They tied her up and gagged her with a pantyhose so that she could not scream. It didn’t end there, they sexually assaulted her. There are witnesses to this.”
Ngcobo said Wandile’s mother had passed away last year and that they had raised Wandile to love God and go to church.
“She had just been elected as a delegate in the church’s youth divisions created by young women of the church. She was excited about the upcoming church conference that will be in Eshowe.”
Ngcobo said he was unsure of when his daughter would be laid to rest.
“No one has been arrested. The investigation has not even begun. I have followed up with police and have eventually found out who the investigating officer is. I have a feeling that this will end up unsolved like the (Senzo) Meyiwa case.
“We have not even begun making funeral arrangements as we have to wait for the post-mortem to be done while her body is still at Park Rynie mortuary. We don’t know when we will have a funeral,” said Ngcobo.
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Constable Thenjiswa Ngcobo confirmed that police in Bhekithemba were investigating a case of murder. She said a 17-year-old girl was stabbed and killed, allegedly by unknown suspect/s this week in Umlazi.
The Department of Social Development in the province condemned the killing and called on law enforcement agencies to leave no stone unturned in their investigation and ensure that their investigation led to the conviction of the guilty person/s.
“No parent should have to bury their child. The death of this teenager was cruel and needless. As the department, we are very much concerned about incidents of gender-based violence (GBV) in our communities,” said the department’s spokesperson, Mhlaba Memela.
Memela said that regardless of efforts made by the department to fight the scourge of GBV, it was still at a crisis level in the province.
“We call on society to stand together to ensure that GBV finds no space in our communities. It has no place in our society. We convey our sympathy to the family and friends of the deceased. The department will arrange psycho-social support for the bereaved family,” said Memela.
Sunday Tribune