When she left home for work last Friday, her family members did not realise that they would never see her alive again. Jane Ngobeni was found raped, killed and dumped in the bush between Mashamba Tshivhuyuni and Zama-Zama Village in the Tshitale area on Tuesday morning, after she had been reported missing for three days. 

Community members in the area are still stunned and shocked about the 31-year-old woman’s death. According to her brother, Charly, the last time he saw her sister was when she left for work on Friday. “We were surprised when she never returned home from work. She used to arrive home at 20:00 every day from Hubyeni Mall in Elim, where she worked as a cashier at a Jet store,” he said.

He further indicated that, due to a transport problem in the area, his sister was forced to walk five kilometers from Mbhokota Village, where the bus normally dropped her from work. “She was forced to travel along the gravel road until she got home, but we don’t know what exactly happened the day she was killed,” he added.

According to him, they were forced to open a missing person file at the Tshitale Police Station. “We also reported her missing to the headman, who mobilized community members to search for her. She was last seen by members of the community who revealed that they saw her with another man, heading to her place, but eventually we found her lying in the bush,” he said

He said the only thing which was missing from her belongings was her cellphone.

According to the spokesperson for the Tshitale police, Insp Ruben Maphiri, they have opened a case of murder and that the police are still continuing with investigations. “We are pleading with the community to assist us in this regard,” he said. He added that the murder cannot be linked to a ritual murder, as all her body parts were still intact.

The family members thanked the police and community members for their efforts to assist in finding Ms Ngobeni.