Another young life was lost after a mother in Sharpeville, Gauteng came home from working night shift yesterday to the horror of discovering her 19-year-old son had seemingly committed suicide by hanging himself.

Speaking to Sedibeng Ster, Bobo Machobane (38) says that her son Tshegofatso usually opens the door for her when she arrives home, but yesterday morning was different. She knocked on the door and her son’s bedroom window but got no response.

“We stay with my brother and he opened [the door] for me instead. I then went to my son’s bedroom, and that is when I found him. I am shocked and deeply hurt because my son never showed any signs of wanting to kill himself. He was supposed to go to school today” the upset mother says.

The matric pupil was supposed to go and visit his aunt in Vanderbijlpark on Sunday afternoon while his mother was at work.

“I called his aunt to check whether he had arrived last night but she said he was not with her,” Bobo says.

She says she noticed her son was online at 02:00 yesterday and texted him to find out where he was.

“He told me he was home. He never showed any signs that anything was bothering him. He is my only child, and he was everything to me. I don’t know what is going to happen to me,” the distraught mother says.

She described her son as humble, prayerful, and respectful.

His aunt Ntaoleng Modibane says she sent him a code that he was supposed to use when he came into her complex, but he later told her that he had gone back home.

She says the were going to see each other yesterday, but instead she was awoken by a call to inform her of her nephew’s death.

“I am deeply hurt by what he did. Sometimes kids do things without thinking about the consequences or the effects their actions have on their parents. I took him as my son although he is my brother’s child. I am deeply saddened by what he did,” says Modibane.

She says they had high hopes for Tshegofatso’s future as they were already making plans for him to get a solid tertiary education.

“I want to urge all parents to be vigilant. Maybe our kids need us to be more open because a lot is going on out there. Let us give them an ear and try to get them to open up,” she says.

Police were on the scene for further investigation.