When will it stop? This question follows the gruesome incident where a woman was stabbed to death by her husband at Mandala in Siloam last Saturday. The incident took place in front of her five-year-old child.
The 35-year-old Mtamela Gogoma killed his wife and hanged himself at his home the next day (Sunday).
According to the police, Ms Vhutshilo Mudau was killed by her husband in the bushes of Thathe. Her body was found with multiple stab wounds inside the dumped vehicle of her husband at Farisani.
In a suicide note, Gogoma asked for forgiveness from his family. He added that he had killed Mudau because of her behaviour. He accused her of having an affair. He also wrote that his wife had confirmed that she was having an affair with another person.
According to Ms Ndaedzo Mudau, Vhutshilo's younger sister, she received a call from a colleague of Vhutshilo's in Duthuni on Saturday, enquiring about the safety of Vhutshilo. The friend alleged that she had seen the vehicle of Vhutshilo's husband driving towards where Vhutshilo was dropped near the road. She added that she also had seen that Vhutshilo had been attacked and forcefully taken into the vehicle.
She said that after receiving the call, she immediately called her sister, but failed to reach her. Mudau added that she phoned continuously but with no response. On Sunday morning, she tried calling her sister again, but Vhutshilo's five-year-old child, Michael, answered the phone.
"Michael said that his mother was crying far away in the bushes. When I was still talking to him, someone took the phone from him and hanged up. I tried calling again, but the phone was switched off."
She added that she then called her brother and told him that Khume (the deceased) had kidnapped her sister. He suggested that she should go and look for Vhutshilo at her husband's house.
It was exactly 07:00 when Mudau and her younger sister, Fhulu, went to Gogoma's house to look for their older sister. Mudau said that when they had arrived at the house they had found Michael, who had said their sister was not in the house. "My spirit was down, because I could not stand the feeling that I am going to face an abusive man."
She added that Michael told them that his father did not want to wake up. They then noticed that he had hanged himself.
"The child told Fhulu that his father had killed his mother in the bushes at Thathe and left her in the car. I quickly phoned the police and my aunt," she said.
Mudau broke down in tears while trying to explain what happened to her sister. "Ati divhi uri ndi ite mini nga nwana wa Vhutshilo ndi do ita mini yooo mia nga Vhutshilo weee." (I don't know what I will do with the child), she said.
She said she wished someone could wake her from the dream because what had occurred to her late sister was hard to accept. "I feel like I'm dreaming. I don't believe that it's my sister who was killed in that manner; it can't be Muhulu. I don't care what people will say, but my sister was a parent, friend and a sister I could confide in."
She added that someone later called and told them that they had found the car at Farisani.
Ms Sarah Matumba, Matamela Gogoma's sister, said that she had received a call from her brother to tell her that she must claim his money from the insurance policies and burial society to prepare for his funeral.
"Killing is not a solution," said the councillor of Ward 27 of the Makhado Municipality, Mr Mashudu Madzivhandila. "If a relationship has come to an end, a man must accept that and seek help from social workers, pastors and counsellors."
Col Moatshe Ngoepe said that the police had started with their initial investigations.
The two deceased will be buried on Saturday at the Mandala cemetery.