As the world was celebrating Father’s Day, 19-year-old Lusanda Mathabela’s dad was experiencing his first without her. Lusanda was found lying lifeless in a pool of blood in the bathroom of her home in Matsafeni in November last year.

Her father, Given Mathabela, a well-known DJ and Ligwalagwala FM presenter, said it was without a doubt the worst Father’s Day he had ever had.

“I refused to celebrate it this year, and my children understood.”

He said he has fond memories of how Lusanda would lead her siblings on the day, gathering them to make breakfast for him.

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“They always had something planned, and she had the ability to make something special out of very little.”

Given told Mpumalanga News that Lusanda was his firstborn, and many people referred to her as his favourite. He said he learned resilience from her, and described her as a very strong person who always found a way to make everyone okay – even in the most difficult situations.

“The fact that she is not here right now, and the brutal way in which she was murdered… I don’t think there’s a way to make anyone understand the depth of the pain my family and I are going through. They say time heals, but for me the hurt seems to get worse every day.”

He said justice for Lusanda would be for her legacy to live on, and for her passions to find space in the lives of others.

“This is why the Lusanda Hope Mathabela Foundation exists. Justice for me would be if those who murdered her just told the truth and helped me make sense of why they could be so brutal.”

Given said that for him, the courtroom has become a place that refuses to allow his family to heal.

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“Every time I have to go to court, I suffer immense panic attacks and anxiety, because I am forced to relive the entire ordeal. I don’t wish this journey on any parent. The loss is very deep, the deepest. I don’t even know if I know how to move forward,” he explained. “My daughter was my world. I named her Hope because that’s what she represented in my life, and now Hope is gone, taken brutally by people who can’t even show remorse.”