Durban - Picketers outside the Richmond Magistrate’s Court could not contain their grief and broke down in tears during the appearance in court of a man suspected of luring, killing and burning a pregnant job seeker in August.
Department of Social Development spokesperson Mhlabunzima Memela said there had been devastating scenes outside the court, where gender-based violence activists, social workers and the family of Nkosikhona Zondo, 27, had picketed.
“Suddenly, people broke down in tears when chanting slogans calling for perpetrators of gender-based violence to cease their barbarity on defenceless women and children,” Memela said.
He said picketers had carried placards showing solidarity with victims of gender-based violence and called for justice to hear their cries.
The assailant had appeared in a courtroom packed with social workers, various stakeholders, and the deceased’s family members, all of whom wanted to catch a glimpse of the “heartless man”, Memela said.
“The alleged perpetrator was remanded in police custody and will return to court on November 10, 2022 for a formal bail application,” Memela said.
Zondo was murdered in August after she was lured to the Eston-Illovo area on the pretext that she had to report for duty. Her remains were found by farmworkers in a sugar cane field. She was burnt beyond recognition and had wires, suspected to be the remnants of a tyre, around her neck. Her family were able to identify her only with pieces of her clothing that were slightly visible, including her shoes and socks.
Her post-mortem revealed she had been pregnant.
“The Department of Social Development has stepped up its campaign calling for the enforcement of laws to ensure that anyone involved in gender-based violence does not escape prison,” Memela added.
Zondo left her home in Camperdown in August, where she was living with her sister, after she received a call from a man who told her she was supposed to report for duty on August 8.
However, her sister could not find Zondo after she had left home until August 17, when they went to check the body of a woman found burnt in a sugar cane field by farmworkers.
In August, police spokesperson Constable Thenjiswa Ngcobo said Mid Illovo police were appealing to the public to assist them in locating the relatives of a woman found at Mid Illovo by farmworkers at 12pm on August 8.
“The burnt body of a female in her twenties was recovered when the workers went to investigate the cause of a fire in the sugar cane fields,” Ngcobo said.
“The deceased was burnt beyond recognition and had wires, suspected to be from a tyre, around her neck. The only part of the deceased’s clothing that was slightly visible was her black takkies and navy-blue socks. The rest of her clothing items were not visible.”
Daily News