1 month ago
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The son of a slain pensioner has recalled how just five minutes before she was hacked to death, she reiterated that she was fearful and scared of the man she had given a piece job to.
Maria Mphukubje, 74, was murdered in her home in Mokopane, Limpopo, on Sunday.
Moloko Mphukubje on Monday said if he hadn’t switched off his phone, maybe things could have turned out differently.
“She was scared and fearful of him but I didn’t take it seriously,” said Mphukubje.
Mphukubje said his mother was so caring, and it wasn’t surprising when she called him recently to inform him that she had given a man from the neighbourhood a piece job at their home.
He did not ask when he had been hired.
“She said she bought cement and paint for a little project in the house and had hired him to do the job. But after a while, she realised that he was making a mess of things and got worried he would waste the cement she had bought with her grant money. She then let him go [on Thursday],” he said.
Over the next few days, he said his mother would call him about the man’s increasingly strange behaviour.
“I tried to call my mother whenever I had time, if not every day. When she called me on Saturday, she told me she was scared because he had started acting weird. He would come to the house making noise and shouting at the top of his lungs.
“She said it seemed as if his whole personality had changed and she was afraid he might get violent with her,” said Mphukubje.
On Sunday, Mphukubje received another call from his mother and she expressed her fear.
“It was around 2pm in the afternoon. After that, I switched off my phone for a bit as I was preoccupied with something and didn’t want to be disturbed. I think 20 minutes later, I turned it back on and saw I had many missed calls from her neighbour.
“When I called back, he said I should hurry home. I asked him what was wrong but he just said I should hurry, that it was about my mother. I panicked and drove there,” said Mphukubje.
He said nothing could have prepared him for what he saw.
“When I got there, a crowd of people was outside her home. When I rounded the crowd, there she was on the floor with her pills scattered around her, as if he had caught her while she was taking her medication. The back of her head was rammed, and her skull was open. I later found out she had been hacked with a hoe,” he said.
Provincial police spokesperson Brig Hlulani Mashaba on Monday said a 40-year-old man was arrested shortly after an elderly woman was found hacked to death.
"According to the initial reports, a concerned neighbour, alerted by commotion, rushed to the house to assist and found the victim lying outside the house, tied with a rope and with multiple stab wounds. He immediately contacted the police and emergency services.
"Upon their arrival, paramedics certified the 74-year-old victim dead at the scene. The local detectives acted swiftly, identifying and apprehending the suspect shortly after the attack. Further investigations are ongoing to uncover the circumstances surrounding this tragic incident," said Mashaba.
The man is expected to appear in the Mahwelereng magistrate's court today on a charge of murder.
Mphukubje said: “It couldn’t have been five minutes after our call. It was as if the guy had been listening to our conversation, hearing her voice as she spoke about her fears of him.
"The neighbour said when he came out, he saw him attacking her with a hoe. He threw a stone at him before chasing him. The community had tied him up and were waiting for the police when I arrived,” said Mphukubje.
He said his mother was still strong despite having arthritis and high blood pressure.
“This is very painful for me, for us as a family. My mother was a pillar to everyone she met, and to her family. She was a kind soul,” he said.
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