THE LOVER of murdered Paballo Potloane has broken his silence.
The man, a former senior ANC employee, spoke to the People’s Paper yesterday in a lengthy interview.
“SHE WAS MY GIRLFRIEND AND SHE WAS PREGNANT,” HE SAID.
The 33-year-old man, whose identity is known to Daily Sun, said she suffered a miscarriage.
He said Paballo had past her first trimester when she lost the baby earlier this year.
“Like any other father, I was hurt when she told me she had miscarried. I was hurt and broken. I wish the baby had lived.”
He said his affair with Paballo had been going on for three years before she met her death on 23 December when she was 25 years old.
He said although he had been married to his wife for a decade he also cared for Paballo and the baby.
Paballo, a mum of two toddlers from her previous relationship, was killed at her home in Braamfischer, Soweto, as reported in Daily Sun last week.
PABALLO RECEIVED A G-STRING CURSE, THEN DEATH!
Her throat was slit when two men broke into the RDP house in which she and her sister, Makgotso, were alseep. Makgotso saw the horror unfold.
The family believed it was a hit.
They told the People’s Paper that one of the intruders asked for their names and when Paballo said hers, the man shone a torch in her face to make sure it was her.
After killing her, he allegedly made a call and told the person on the other side of the line that the job was done.
It’s understood that days leading up to her death, Paballo was receiving threats, allegedly from her lover’s wife.
The WhatsApp messages have since been circulating among friends and family.
In one message, a picture of a G-string believed to belong to Paballo is shown with a knife and smeared with muthi, followed by a message threatening Paballo that if she was pregnant, she would abort through her mouth.
Another message reads: “I’m not gonna lose my marriage over a trash like you. You have declared war.”
The man told Daily Sun he didn’t believe his wife was the killer.
He revealed that his wife previously confronted Paballo.
“My wife and Paballo used to fight but I believe she is innocent. My wife wanted Paballo to respect her space.
“I used to intervene and make peace, but it was never violent. I’m familiar with the messages because Paballo showed them to me,” he said.
“But my wife is not the killer and the messages were just simply emotional threats. I know she is not capable of killing.”
He said neither of them were coping following Paballo’s death. They also wanted to see justice.
He said his wife was shocked when he broke the news to her.
“She said she wouldn’t wish something so gruesome to happen to her worst enemy,” he said.
“We hope my wife’s name will be cleared.”
Paballo was laid to rest on Saturday. Friends and family gathered to pay tribute to her at Forte High School in Dobsonville, Soweto.
She was described as a beautiful soul. Her tearful cousins all expressed the hope that the truth would come out.
In her eulogy, Paballo’s friend Anele Mkwanazi, said: “You always said you would die first and you were right.”
She said they had been best friends since grade 5.
“We were supposed to graduate together,” she said.
“Now who will be my maid of honour when I get married?”
She said as godmother to her children, she would always be there.
“I can’t say goodbye because I still feel you and hear your voice. I’m going to miss you and no one will take your place,” she said.
“I can tell you the pain is unbearable.”
Police are investigating a case of murder and robbery and no arrests have been made.
