By Lungani Zungu
For years Thandeka Shozi, 40, was abused by her live-in boyfriend, who allegedly killed her after she refused to give him money to buy liquor.
Shozi, from Pietermaritzburg, died after being struck by a hammer on the head multiple times. The boyfriend cannot be named as he has not appeared in court.
Shozi’s sister, Ntombikhona, said Shozi had ignored all warnings given to her to leave her abusive boyfriend.
“It is sad, because we warned her many times to dump her boyfriend, but she did not listen to us, and now she is dead,” Ntombikhona told Scrolla.Africa.
Ntombikhona recounted a terrifying incident when the suspect beat Shozi severely after she went to a party without telling him.
“I thought my sister was going to die when he beat her up last year. She was admitted to hospital and spent days recovering there.”
She said her sister never wanted to lay charges after being abused by the suspect. The couple has two children – aged five and eight.
A local community leader, Musa Hlabisa, said: “We tried to intervene and told the deceased many times to open cases against the suspect whenever he beat her, but she did not. We hope now that he will face the justice system.”
Hlabisa said the family and the neighbours allege that the suspect attacked Shozi after she refused to give him money to buy alcohol.
“It is sad for a human being to be killed for alcohol. What kind of a man would kill a woman just because they refused to give them money to buy alcohol?”
The suspect has been unemployed since he was retrenched in 2020, following the start of Covid-19 lockdowns.
The police have confirmed the incident and that the suspect is in custody and is yet to appear in court.
Pictured above: The slain Thandeka Shozi
Picture source: Supplied
