Family seeks answers after mother found dead at an informal settlement
A grieving daughter, a vulnerable mother, and a man found hiding behind a door. What happened in the final hours of Chantel Meyers’ life has left her family searching for answers.
Lebogang Meyers stepped out of her mother’s home for just a few minutes.
But when she returned, she discovered her mother’s body under deeply troubling circumstances in their Alexandra home.
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Chantel Meyers had been chronically ill and was discharged from the local clinic just hours before her death. Lebogang said Chantel’s condition had worsened in the days leading up to her passing. “On October 2, she started talking to herself and seeing things we could not see,” Lebogang recalled. “Her state had deteriorated to such an extent that she could no longer walk.”
Chantel was admitted to the clinic on October 4 due to dangerously high blood pressure. She was discharged the following day, but in the early hours of October 6, Lebogang returned from the outside toilet to find the front door ajar. Inside, she discovered her mother lying unresponsive and unclothed on the living room floor.
What she saw next raised even more alarm: a man hiding behind the door. “Something told me to look behind the door, and I only saw his shoes. He had wrapped himself with a blanket.”
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Lebogang alerted a neighbour, and together they confronted the man, who allegedly asked her to re-enter the house. When he eventually stepped outside, community members who had gathered outside Chantel’s house questioned the man. According to Lebogang, he gave conflicting accounts. Initially, he claimed he was looking for a friend, then he said he found the door open and entered to check Chantel’s pulse.
The man was reportedly held at the scene until police arrived. Alexandra’s acting station commander, Colonel Jerry Phaswana, confirmed that Alexandra police officers responded to the incident but did not disclose whether charges have been laid or the nature of the investigation.
At the time of the incident, Lebogang’s two children were asleep in a nearby bedroom, along with Chantel’s partner.
The family now faces additional hardship. Claudine Meyers, a close relative, said funeral arrangements have stalled due to the absence of Chantel’s identity documentation.
“We did not have her ID number, and now we can’t bury her because policies require the names and documents of the deceased,” Claudine explained. “She was not receiving any grant or formal support.”
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