Mvula Kulati (22) was brutally murdered over the weekend when he allegedly tried to defend his ‘friend’ during a fight at a local tavern in Bophelong, near Vanderbijlpark.

His family is devastated.

According to Mvula’s family, the young man was last seen by his cousin, just before his death.

The family received a call at noon on Sunday asking them to identify Mvula’s body, which was found in a veld behind Sapphire Secondary School.

Speaking to Sedibeng Ster, Mvula’s cousin Nonosi Motlhaping described her last moments with Mvula on Saturday night.

“He came to my house and we spent time together before he dashed out. A trio of young men stood outside the house patiently waiting for his return. When he took long, one came in and called him, claiming he was wasting time… That was the last time we saw him,” says Motlhaping.

“We received a call the following day to identify a body discovered in the bushes behind a local school. Mvula’s dad went to the scene and he confirmed it was him,” she adds.

Mvula’s father Sipho (54) says his son had several stab wounds.

“He was stabbed eight times with some wounds on his arms as if he was blocking the stabbing. There was no blood on the scene or marks proving that the brutal killing of my son happened where he was found. We [the family] suspect that he may have been dumped where he was found,” he says.

“The same men who took him from his cousin’s home never had the humanity to come and report what happened. Only when we found him in the bushes and had to search for the trio, they told us that he was stabbed fighting for one of them from a mob at a tavern.

“The only consolation my family will accept is getting answers on who killed my son so that he gets justice. He didn’t deserve to die like that,” he says.

Police are investigating a murder case following the discovery of Mvula’s remains, however, the Vanderbijlpark police spokesperson was not available for comment at the time of publishing.