Family prays justice will prevail for sugar cane murder victim

By Lungi Langa

The family of a 27-year-old woman whose burnt body was discovered by sugar cane farmers rushing to put out a fire in August say they hope the law will reveal what happened to her.

The charred body of Nkosikhona Zondo was discovered in August by field workers in the bush in Eston, Mid Illovo, near Camperdown.

Her body was found burnt beyond recognition and what is suspected to be tyre wiring was found close to it.

Her brother Zakhele Zondo said the family was concerned when she didn’t pick up her seven-year-old daughter from daycare or return from a job they thought she had been promised by her boyfriend.

Zakhele said the family believes that the boyfriend has not been upfront about her death, and knows more than he’s letting on.

“He claims that our sister was raped and killed in front of him by men he owed money. He claims that he owed R3,000 due to a phone. It is not clear how this happened. The whole thing sounds hard to believe,” said Zondo.

He said while the family is still shocked and relieved that the suspect has been caught, they hope the truth will be revealed.

Meanwhile, as the family is still dealing with the death of their sister, he said they have to put the pieces back together and create a loving home for her daughter.

Zondo said that there is a lot they are hearing, including that Nkosikhona might have been killed because she was pregnant with the baby of the man suspected of her murder. 

He said he can’t understand why anyone would kill someone because they were pregnant.

“There are a lot of women who have been dumped before. Why did this have to go to this extent?” 

KwaZulu-Natal MEC Nonhlanhla Khoza has commended the police for the arrest but has implored them to do more to ensure that the case is watertight to guarantee that the suspect will not be released on technical grounds in court.

“The deceased was only identified by the family with pieces of her clothing that were slightly visible, including shoes and socks. It was discovered during the post-mortem that the deceased was also pregnant,” said Khoza.

KwaZulu-Natal Police spokesperson, Lt Col Nqobile Gwala, confirmed that the suspect is scheduled to appear before the Richmond Magistrate’s Court on Thursday after he made his first appearance on 27 October.

Pictured above: the body of Nkosikhona Zondo, 27, was discovered in a sugar cane field burnt beyond recognition

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