THE family of Busisiwe Mthethwa (56) from Samora Machel in Cape Town, who was allegedly murdered by her boyfriend Brian Mhiripiri (35), said the suspected killer had a habit of abusing her.
Her body was found cut and stuffed inside a fridge on Saturday, 30 December 2023.
Busisiwe’s sister, Buyiswa Solontsi (40), alleged that her sister was supposed to obtain a protection order against Brian on Tuesday, 2 January, but she was killed on 30 December before she could go to court.
“The week before, Brian had choked my sister and stopped when she had lost consciousness. She had decided to leave him after the incident because he had been doing this for a long time,” said Buyiswa.
She said Brian and Busisiwe had been together for more than two years and she first heard about him two years ago when they fought and ended up involving the cops.
She said her sister wanted to leave the toxic relationship but unfortunately, she died before she could leave it.
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Thinking about the horrifying way her sister died, Buyiswa said as a family they're hurt.
“I left my home going to fetch my sister so that she can see whether the clothes which Brian was selling weren’t hers. On arrival, we saw the curtains of her house full of blood. The next thing we find her body stuffed inside a fridge. All these things happened very fast, and I was not expecting all that, so it was like a bad dream unfolding,” she said.
Jacky Samuels, chairman of the Samora Machel community policing forum (CPF), said Brian was arrested while trying to sell Busisiwe's clothes, which raised suspicions among her relatives who hadn't seen her since the day before.
They reported him to the cops who immediately responded to the scene, and this led to the gruesome discovery inside the fridge.
Western Cape police spokesman Frederick van Wyk confirmed the incident.
He said cops accompanied family members of the missing person when they made the gruesome discovery.
The suspect appeared in the Athlone Magistrates Court on Tuesday, 9 January, and the case was postponed as the accused needed an interpreter.
