By Anita Dangazele
Four members of the Ntshabase family – Nosiseko Ntshabase, 62, her daughter Bongeka, 35, and her two grandchildren Lisemi, 7, and Wamkeliwe, 2 – from the Cisirha village in Peddie were found dead in their home last Wednesday.
Neighbours started getting suspicious late on Wednesday morning when they noticed that the gate was still locked and the curtains remained closed.
Thembela Marashula, Nosiseko’s niece who lives next door, said she was worried when she didn’t see her aunt moving about the yard as she normally did in the mornings.
“I asked Bhut’Melubekho to go and check what was going on. I told him to break the window if necessary,” Thembela said.
“I was prepared to pay for the window if my intuition was wrong but I could not just sit back and do nothing.”
She said he came back with other men from the village and she could see that something was wrong.
Police were immediately called to the scene.
Police spokesperson Priscilla Naidu said Bongeka’s body was found in the passage. Nosiseko’s body was found in the lounge near the front door. The bodies of Wamkeliwe and Lisemi were on separate beds in the main bedroom.
“Several packets of prescription pills were found lying next to one of the beds and two jugs filled with what is believed to be leftover pills mixed with water,” Naidu said.
She said police did not suspect foul play.
In 2020, Nosiseko lost her husband and two years later, her daughter Sindiswa took her own life. She was a final year BSC Agriculture student at the University of Fort Hare.
At the time of her death, her son, Lisemi, who would have been two years old this Sunday, was only two months old.
Thembela said the family home would remain closed after the funeral since all the members of the Ntshabase family were now deceased.
“This is sad. The entire family has been wiped out. There is literally no one left,” she said.
The chief in the village and Amathole Traditional Initiation Forum chair Nkosi Mzikayise Kaulela said related clans would assist with preparations for the funeral.
“I’ve informed the premier of the province, the Department of Social Development and the Ngqushwa Municipality to assist us in this matter. We would be grateful to anyone who would like to donate towards the funeral,” Kaulela said.
Pictured above: Thembela Marashula is overwhelmed with emotion as she narrates the events leading to the discovery of the bodies of the Ntshabase family.
Image source: Supplied
