THOLAKELE Mosia went to spend New Year’s Day with her boyfriend in Sgodiphola, Soweto.
And this was the last time the 39-year-old was seen by her family until they identified her body on Monday, 11 January, at Diepkloof government mortuary.
This after her badly bruised body was found in a ditch in Mofolo North, also in Soweto, by a passerby on Sunday, 2 January.
Tholakele’s brother Vincent Modikoane (35) told Daily Sun his sister’s body was so badly disfigured, her face was almost unrecognisable.
He said: “She left home on 1 January to meet up with her boyfriend.
“When we called her the next day, the phone was answered by a man who just said ‘hello’ and hung up. The phone was then switched off.”
He said the family got worried and opened a missing persons case with the Moroka police.
They managed to find the boyfriend’s home in Mofolo North, where he lives with his two brothers.
“We went with the police, but there was no one. We then monitored the house until the suspect came and we called the police.
“As we exchanged words with the suspect’s neighbours, a passerby who overheard the conversation asked us what we were looking for.”
Upon giving a description of Tholakele, the family was taken to the local community patrolling forum, who led them to the ditch where the body was.
Vincent said: “We want answers and justice. We just wanted to find her, even if she was no more.”
He said Tholakele left behind a four-year-old daughter.
Gauteng police spokeswoman Colonel Dimakatso Sello said a 23-year-old suspect appeared in the Protea Magistrates Court on Tuesday, 11 January on charges of murder.
“A 39-year-old woman was reported missing and her body was discovered in an open veld in Mofolo North. Preliminary investigation led the police to the suspect, who is the victim’s boyfriend. He was arrested on Sunday, 9 January. Police investigations continue,” said Sello.
