A SHONGWENI family has been through hell with first the rape and then the brutal murder of their teenage son, Mduduzi (Mdu) Mkhize.
As a result, the family has not received any closure as no one was arrested and the motive of the murder remains unknown.
Through all their heartache, Doris and her partner Petros Chachane still manage to smile and warmly welcome people to their dilapidated house.
The Chachane family was selected to be assisted by the Pinetown Cluster whose latest initiative for the family is to build them a home as they live in a dilapidated mud house.
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While the men and women in blue are trying to get this project off the ground, a portion of this one room collapsed during the recent heavy rain.
“We have tried to patch it up, but the family needs a proper house that they can call home,” said Cst Samkele Ngcongo from Mpumalanga SAPS.
“In 2016, the cluster chose this family as part of the 67 minutes for Mandela Day initiative. When we got here, we had so many items for them, but we saw that there was no space and that is when the idea of building them a house was born.
“Our goal is to build them a two-bedroom home with a kitchen and a bathroom,” said Ngcongo.
Both Doris and Petros are unemployed and live with their eldest daughter (27) who is mentally disabled and their youngest daughter who in Grade 4.
Doris said they have experienced lots of heartaches in their lives.
“The first blow was when Mdu was raped by a soccer coach in 2013, he was 15 at that time.
“This man came to our home and asked if he Mdu could join his team as he was such a talented player whom he has seen in the nearest stadium playing with his peers.”
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Mdu’s mom said she did not see anything wrong with that until his principal called them about the change in their son’s behaviour that was worrying her.
“Police were called to intervene and found out about the rape. The man was arrested and convicted. That is when we got to know Cst Ngcongo and since 2013 this man has been with us through thick and thin. We call him our first born son and he also helps us with our youngest daughter school’s needs.
With tears in her eyes, Doris said Mdu was a jack of all trades and after the rape incident, spent most of his time rehearsing with his traditional music group in KwaNdengezi.
The passing of Mdu took a toll on the family as he was missing for two months before his body was found by a security guard on July 2015 in a sugar cane field near Shongweni landfill site, EnviroServ.
“When he did not return home, we searched everywhere from hospitals to mortuaries until a woman who knew of his disappearance gave me a copy of the Highway Mail and I saw an article about police looking for relatives of a person who was found in sugar cane fields.
“I still do not know why he was brutally murdered, he had numerous gunshots all over his body. He was only 17 and still in school. Mdu was the apple of my eye and through all that, his father was very sick and I did not speak to him much about this matter as I was scared that the stress might just be too much for him,” said Doris.
Pinetown Cluster appeals to people and businesses who can assist with the building material to contact Cst Samkele Ngcongo on 082 637 5975 or W/O Bhekisigcino Ngcongo on 082 062 7475.
Anyone who knows anything about Mdu’s murder is urged to contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111.
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