MOLETJIE – IN A triple tragedy for the Tsweleng family and the community they live in, the bodies of two young children and their 85-year-old grandmother were discovered in a shallow grave in Ga-Chokoe, Moletjie on Friday.
Seshego police station commander, Brig Machuene Mokgonyana said the bodies of Maria Mokwatlo (85), Tumisho Tsweleng (8) and Thato Tsweleng (3) were discovered buried in an old water well on Friday after the three were reported missing last Wednesday.
“Neighbours realised something was wrong when they saw that the woman’s clothes had been hanging on the washing line for three days. They started searching for the woman and her grandchildren. When they could not be found, they contacted the police,” Mokgonyana explained.
Mokgonyana said the deceased were last seen last Saturday but were only reported missing last Wednesday. He said the police searched the area last Thursday to no avail.
The police returned to the area on Friday and also questioned residents.
A shepherd remembered seeing blood in some veld earlier in the week.
The bodies were discovered nearby, compressed into a small water well with huge stones placed on top of them, Mokgonyana said.
He further said the bodies were identified by family members.
On Saturday, the police arrested the children’s uncle, Tlou Frank Gajane, for the murders and he appeared before the Seshego magistrate’s court on three counts of murder on Monday. The case was postponed to December 2 for a formal bail application.
Dikonketso Tsweleng, the mother of the two children, and sister of the suspect, said she was terribly shocked and deeply hurt.
“The incident changed my life completely and I am now afraid of any human being. I could not believe it when I was told that my brother Frank was the suspect,” she said.
She said she had had big plans for her children but all those plans were now gone.
“I wanted to celebrate the festive season with my two children, and I had already bought them clothes for Christmas and New Year’s Eve. I wanted my children to be happy like any other children of their ages,” she said.
Speaking of the killer of her children, she said: “He is a monster and I hope the court sentences him to life imprisonment so that he can pay for what he has done and the suffering he has caused.”
