Family mourns horrific loss

A 13-year-old girl who had been missing since May 24, was found with her eyes gouged out, stab wounds and a broken neck on Friday, May 27.

Police said she was raped before she was killed.
Nandipha Mbatha’s body was found by her brother, Ayanda Mbatha (17), in the bush next to a footpath she was using as a short cut to school, in the Mandeni, Hlomendlini area.
“Her eyes were gouged out, her thighs full of stab wounds. It was a very disheartening moment for me, because I did not set out to look for her body, I was just looking for my sister. I thought I would find her somewhere safe. I could not believe my eyes when I saw her lying there,” said Ayanda.
While describing the condition of his sister’s body, the trauma was written all over his face and he kept taking deep breaths to remain calm, before he could start a new sentence.
Speaking at Nandipha’s memorial service on Thursday, June 2, her mother Nontsikelelo Manqele descried her daughter as an intelligent child.
“We were very close and she was not a regular user of the short cut path to the school,” said Manqele.
The Tugela Hall was filled with sorrow when her primary school friend, Bianca Biyela, lead the Lower Tugela Primary choir in song and with a poem, saying goodbye to her friend.
She was a grade eight pupil at Tugela Secondary school and her teacher, Nozipho Sibiya, said everyone in the school was shocked by her death.
A 40-year-old man was arrested in connection with the crime and he appeared at KwaDukuza Magistrate Court on Tuesday, June 7.
Nandipha’s funeral was in the Ndulinde area, Mandeni, on Saturday, June 4.
Meanwhile a 43-year-old man committed suicide on Tuesday, May 31, after he allegedly tried to rape his daughter, who is a pupil at Tugela Secondary. It is alleged that he tried to rape his daughter on Sunday at midnight. The girl did not come home on Monday afternoon.
“We believe that he realised that the child had gone to report him and he could not stand the consequences of his actions,” said a community member.

Her memorial service was attended by Mandeni deputy mayor Phindile Sishi and mayor Siphesihle Zulu. Between them, is a photo of the late Nandipha Mbatha.

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