Devastation and pain is written on the faces of those who were close to the late Busisiwe Bhembe.
This after the 73-year-old was allegedly butchered to death by her third-born son, Bakhe Bhembe, at her home in Protea Glen ext 2.
According to the neighbours and those who rent back rooms at the deceased’s home, the accused allegedly attacked his mother in the early hours of Monday morning during load shedding. A report says the neighbours were woken up by the deceased’s last-born son, who informed them that his brother had allegedly chopped his mother with an axe.
The deceased was found lying in bed with an open wound on the right side of her face, above her right eye while her left hand was chopped, with fingers hanging by the flesh.
Nomsa Mkhwebane, a relative of the deceased, said the accused allegedly treated his mother badly while she was still alive. She said while they were cleaning, they found two of her teeth under her bed and struggled to wash her blood off the wall.
“He didn’t respect her and yet she did everything to make sure that they were taken care of. Everything was okay with him until he started taking drugs. He killed her while she was still breathing through his actions, and the physical murder was the final straw,” said Mkhwebane.
She further told Sunday World that Bakhe allegedly didn’t deny committing the crime when the police took him on Monday.
“When I arrived here, he was already in the police van and he looked me in the eye and said he had killed her, [asking] was there anything we were going to do. I hope my sister gets justice in this case.”
One of the deceased’s church friends, Maltilda Pule, said her walks to church will never be the same again. “She was one of my closest friends, and how she died is painful. How do you carry a child for nine months, take care of them and give them a better education, only for them to kill you like a dog?” the emotional Pule asked, adding that her friend had always told her about how her son was troubling her, but she didn’t think it would get to murder one day.
A tenant who lives with her family in the back rooms said she fears for her family’s livelihood since the deceased is no more.
“The accused has always been a violent person, especially when he is intoxicated. When this happened, we thought he was fighting with one of his many girlfriends because he always fought with them, and they would break bottles here. If he gets bail, he will probably come back to hurt us or chase us away,” said the tenant.
Bakhe appeared before the Protea magistrate’s court on Wednesday and was remanded in custody until his next court appearance on May 31.
A Gender-Based-Violence activist, Nomusa Molefe, said they will go to court to make sure that the accused doesn’t get bail and justice is served.
“We cannot live life like this, where people kill their mothers, girlfriends and just women in general. I hope our justice system doesn’t fail us on this case. We will go there in one voice, saying no bail for the accused because he is a danger to society.”
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