Cape Town - A distraught mother said she searched for her missing daughter for two days before discovering she was murdered.
Fundiswa Masa, 45, was at work when her 24-year-old daughter, Thina, went missing last Wednesday.
She only realised on Friday that she had not been home because she worked night shifts.
“I last saw her on Wednesday when I went to work. When I returned on Thursday morning, the door was open and the burglar gate was unlocked.
“I thought she was visiting a friend in the opposite house because she wouldn’t go far and leave the door unlocked.
“I went straight to bed and fell asleep and I went to work that evening.
“I had not seen her but I assumed that she returned home but didn’t want to wake me up as I had told her not to wake me up when I’m sleeping during the day.”
The grieving mother said when she returned home on Friday morning, she knew something was wrong.
“I tried to call her cellphone but it went unanswered. I then went to her friends and they said they had not seen her since Tuesday and even her boyfriend said the same thing.
“When I went to work on Wednesday she was alone but there was a friend who had visited her and she said she left her with other people on Wednesday.”
Masa said she went to report the case to the police.
“The detective I spoke to asked me to describe my child, and then asked if I knew about a woman’s body which was found in a ditch.
“I recalled seeing that on Facebook but people said it was a coloured woman and that she had dreadlocks. My daughter’s head was in plaits and she had blonde hair.
“He showed me the cerise pink dress that looked like hers, when I saw her shoes, I knew it was my daughter.
“The officer refused to show me the pictures of her face because she was badly injured.”
Police spokesperson, Wesley Twigg, said Lwandle police arrested a 31-yearold man on a charge of murder after the body of an unknown female, believed to be in her twenties, was found in a ditch in Magatya Street, Asanda Village on Thursday at about 7pm.
“The victim’s body was discovered by a member of the public who alerted the police. The circumstances surrounding her death are under investigation.”
The man made his first appearance in the Strand Magistrate’s Court on Monday. Masa said she didn’t recognise the accused.
“I had never seen him before, he looks like a phara (thug). He said he has no home address.”
mandilakhe.tshwete@inl.co.za