The Polo family is reeling with grief and trauma after their daughter Nomthandazo’s body was found mutilated in her rented house in Geluksdal, Brakpan, on Sunday night.

It is alleged that her killer is her long-term boyfriend, and that he called his friends and family afterwards saying he had killed her and that he was going to commit suicide.

Nomthandazo’s body was dismembered with a grinder.

Her mother Senzeni Ngoma says she is haunted by the images of her daughter’s body lying in a pool of her own blood.

“It is going to take years for me to forget the gruesome scene,” she adds.

It is alleged that 33-year-old Nomthandazo and the suspect was in an abusive relationship for years, and that the final straw was when she found out that her partner had impregnated another woman. She decided to end the relationship.

“He refused to move out of their rented house and assaulted her so badly that she could barely talk and walk. I decided to call his mother to intervene and talk to her son about his abusive ways as I feared that he would one day kill my daughter,” explains Ngoma.

The man’s mother moved in with the couple for four days to help them iron out their differences. She left on Saturday and on Sunday night, Nomthandazo was killed.

Her grieving mother demands justice for her daughter.

“My daughter lived in fear and was subjected to a lot of abuse for years. He finally carried out his threats on her life and killed her most cruelly.

“We are now leaving the matter to the Tsakani Magistrate’s Court to hand down the harshest punishment,” she adds.

It is alleged that in the days leading up to the crime, the 29-year-old suspect from Kwa-Thema was asking his friends – who are ex-offenders – about prison life and if he would survive it.

On Monday, One Strong Voice Foundation held a candle-lighting ceremony at Nomthandazo’s home to honour her life.

The suspect appeared before the Tsakani Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday morning on a charge of murder.

The case was postponed to April 4 for a formal bail hearing.