Family in tragic triple tragedy

The community of Bela-Bela on Wednesday 11 December woke up to the gruesome news that a local man, his wife and their teenaged stepdaughter met a violent death at two separate locations.

Limpopo police spokesperson, Brigadier Motlafela Mojalefa, said in a statement that the 37-year-old suspect killed his wife, Thandi Mathebula (39), and his stepdaughter Sharon (17), on Tuesday
10 December, at about 16:00, in Extension 8, Bela-Bela.

“It is alleged that neighbours became suspicious and went to check at the house. Someone was then seen lying on the kitchen floor inside the locked house. They immediately contacted the police
and on arrival, they forced open the door and discovered the woman lying dead on the kitchen floor and the lifeless body of her daughter in the bedroom,” the statement explained.

Police preliminary investigations indicated the two might have been strangled.

Mojapelo said the suspect apparently took the family car after committing the murders, drove onto the Rooiberg/Bela Bela R516 road, and thereafter crashed it into a truck coming from the
opposite direction.

He died instantly.

“The motive behind the incident is still unknown at this stage but domestic violence cannot be ruled out,” he said.

Eyewitness accounts paint the picture of a series of incidents on the fateful day, with one witness claiming to have exchanged greetings with the suspect at a local shopping complex, hours
after the tragedy.

“(The suspect) had a bottle of beer in his hand, which he had bought at the outlet, and then drove off,” the female office worker said.

Cases of two counts of murder and one of culpable homicide have been opened for investigation.

— The BEAT