Serial killer fears in KZN town
2011-03-08 08:03
Bongani Hans, The Witness
Pietermaritzburg - Women in Vryheid, northern KwaZulu-Natal, fear there are serial killers on the loose after the mutilated bodies of two women were discovered two weeks ago.
The bodies had been ripped open and were found dumped in open spaces.
The body of Buyisile Xaba, 35, who had been cut from the neck down to her private parts, was found in Mooiplaas on the evening of February 26.
She was last seen alive on the previous day.
The body of Bonisile Mabaso was found in Bhekuzulu Township on the same day.
Heart, lungs missing
Buyisile’s younger sister, Buhle, 25, said Xaba’s “heart and lungs were missing while her intestines and private parts were found next to her body.”
She said her sister returned home at about 19:00 the previous evening after visiting a neighbour and went to bed before people entered her room.
“They took her away and left her son sleeping alone.
“She was heard screaming for help at about 20:00, but people did not think it was her because they know that she had gone to sleep,” said Xaba.
She said there are signs that the attackers gained entry into her sister’s bedroom after forcing the window open.
She suspects they undressed her before they killed her.
“Her trousers were found in her bedroom while her nightdress and a jersey were found near the body.”
Three attackers
Zanele Ndlela, chairperson of the community policing forum in Bhekuzulu township, said Mabaso, who was in her early 20s, was walking with her husband, Bigboy Nkosi, from church when they were attacked.
Her husband managed to escape after the three attackers, who were armed with knives and sticks, beat him up.
“The husband alerted police, who went to the crime scene and found the men busy assaulting the woman, but they ran away. They had already removed her intestines and she had 10 stab wounds,” Ndlela said.
Police spokesperson Colonel Jay Naicker confirmed both murders had been reported.
Local farmer Dr Willem Labuschagne, who is Nkosi’s employer, said he is organising a protest march in response to the murders.
The ANC Women’s League in Abaqulusi Region has called for investigation. It called on Women, Children and the Disabled Minister Lulu Xingwana and KZN MEC for Transport, Community Safety Liaison Willies Mchunu to protect rural women from such attacks.
