Update
MOSSEL BAY NEWS - KwaNonqaba police officers were called out on Sunday, 23 August at approximately 03:00 to a house in Sitele Street in an informal settlement in KwaNonqaba.
On their arrival they found the body of Thandeka Mashumi (31). The police also found her 31-year-old boyfriend, Phelo Mpambani, on the premises.
According to the police an argument started the previous evening and Mpambani allegedly strangled Mashumi.
Vuyolwethu Cushe, the sister of Mashumi, told the Mossel Bay Advertiser that the couple were at her house the previous evening and then left the house at about 00:11.
"Thandeka did not want to go. She said she wanted to sleep at our home with me and my daughter, but Mpambani begged her until she agreed to go with him," said Cushe.
"Thandeka made a joke and said: 'Phelo I do not know why you are always following me; go to your friends and family. I also want to spend time alone with my family. You are going to kill me one day.' That one day was this time," says Cushe.
According to Cushe, two years back Mpambani burned Mashumi's daughter with boiling water and when she asked him why he had done it, he said he wanted to hurt her.
"Imagine having to identify your younger sister. I touched her and she was cold. It's as if she was going to say: 'Vuyolwethu, I am okay'," said Cushe.
Thandeka loved her family. She loved life. She would sacrifice her last R10 just to help someone who needed it. She was a loving mother to her kids, a friend, a sister, a softly spoken young lady with big dreams, just like all of us from disadvantaged backgrounds."
The community met on Monday afternoon at the Barcelona circle, led by the Mossel Bay NGBV organisation based in KwaNonqaba.
Watch a video below:
"Say no to gender-based violence; stop killing women in Africa. Not yet uhuru, for women the struggle continues," said Vuyolwethu Mfumbe of the NGBV.
A request went out to support the family and to join the fight against women killings and child abuse in Africa. Members of the public can contact Mfumbe on 064 401 3751.
Mashumi is survived by her child not related to Mpambani and another child of one of her other sisters, whom she raised as her own. Mashumi will be laid to rest next week Saturday in her home town of Fort Beaufort in the Eastern Cape.
Women gathered at a memorial on Monday night for Mashumi and to say "no" to gender-based violence.
The suspected murderer in the case, Phelo Mpambani, appeared in court on a charge of murder on Tuesday.
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