KaNyamazane family members of slain sisters share how death has impacted them

The case against Hlabirwa Rassie Nkune (36), who was found guilty of two counts of premeditated murder, resumed on Wednesday May 17 in the Mpumalanga High Court.

In a statement read by Nkune’s legal representative, he pleaded guilty to killing Pretty Mazibuko, who was said to be his girlfriend, and her sister, Marccia Mazibuko, who was a policewoman, in KaNyamazane on May 15 last year.

The trial started on Monday May 15 and was postponed to Tuesday May 16 when Judge Takalani Vincent Ratshibvumo handed down the verdict. The matter was then postponed to Wednesday May 17 when the victim impact statements were read. The prosecutor, Adv Zweletu Mata said all the deceased victims were females and they were known to him [Nkune].

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The statements by Samaria Mazibuko, the victims’ mother and Nomonde Khumalo, who is Pretty’s firstborn child, were read by Mata.

“My mother was a quiet person. She loved us. We were very close. She was more of a sister to me. After I heard that my mother got shot I prayed and wished that she pulled through. I even wish that the bullet crippled her, that is how much I wanted her to live because she was the only parent I know. She worked hard for us and made sure that we had everything we needed. I felt powerless having to know that I no longer have a mother.

Identifying her at the mortuary was the hardest thing to do, seeing her laying there broke me. My whole body became numb. No words will ever be able to describe how hurt I was and it still hurts today. Ever since the passing of my mother, I often get angry over things, shouting at my family and knowing that I have to be a parent to my younger brother at this age. I am a child myself. It makes me feel depressed that I had a perfectly healthy mother, and she was taken away from us. Now I have to live without her. The worst part is when people ask me where I stay, and I tell them, they would often ask if I am referring to the place where the two sisters had been shot. That hurts me the deepest, having to explain that Pretty was my mother and Marccia my aunt,” Khumalo said.

Khumalo said after her mother’s death she struggled to sleep and had to go for consultations. She also shared the financial responsibilities that she now has.

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Samaria said, “The two deceased were my daughters. Their death has hurt me. I do not think I would feel any pain on this earth, compared to the pain I felt the day I saw my two children shot on the ground. I was confused and I did not know what to do at that moment. Pretty was my second born and Marccia was my last born. Unexpectedly, Pretty would come to me and cook food on days such as Valentine’s Day, buy me flowers and do something that would make me happy. She would spend the day with me, although she had somewhere else to go. Marccia was very responsible; she used to buy me groceries and used my earned money for other things.”
Samaria said her daughters’ deaths broke her.

“I cannot drive myself anymore. At night, when I am asleep, I often feel as if I will see the person who killed my children coming for me. It would seem so real that I would struggle to fall sleep again.”

After the reading, Ratshibvumo said he was not in any position to give a sentence.

The Mpumalanga National Prosecuting Authority’s Monica Nyuswa said the state is looking for nothing less than a life sentence per count.

The matter was postponed to Thursday May 18.