This is after the 37-year-old male suspect who was initially arrested and charged for the murder of Nthabiseng Bulwana was released a week after his arrest due to a lack of evidence linking him to the crime scene.
According to the media liaison officer for the Katlehong police, Capt Mega Ndobe, no witness has come forward to link the suspect to the murder of the deceased.
“It is important that members of the public understand that the police deal with facts and not hearsay,” said Ndobe. According to the police, Bulwana’s body was found after being spotted by a passer-by not far from the newly opened Sam Ntuli Mall in Katlehong.
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According to Katlehong SAPS media liaison officer WO Sivenkosi Mthwa, the semi-naked body of a woman was found in a community garden covered with grass, with part of her arm protruding, on February 15. A pair of red takkies Bulwana was apparently last seen wearing by her friends were also found among the nearby reeds.
A friend and neighbour of the dead woman, Yamkela Bobotyane, who claimed to have witnessed the deceased and her male companion walk together towards the Sam Ntuli Mall shortly before dusk on February 14, described Bulwana as a sweet and always cheerful person with a smile on her face.
Bobotyane said at about 6pm or 6.30pm on Valentine’s Day Bulwana and her male companion left Phola Park and walked towards the mall. According to Bobotyane, just after 8pm she noticed Bulwana’s male companion return alone.
“When we asked him where Nthabiseng was, he said the two of them had a fight and they had decided to go their separate ways,” recalled Bobotyane.
When he was pressed for more information by the concerned friends, he said he had left Bulwana at a nearby tavern. The friends asked him to take them to the tavern. But when they arrived at the tavern, Bulwana. The man claimed he had been informed Bulwana had left in an unidentified car with a group of unknown men.
It was not until the next morning that Bobotyane and her friends were alerted by a neighbour to the discovery of a female’s body not far from the Sam Ntuli Mall.
“Since we had not been able to track down Nthabiseng, we decided to go and see if it was her body,” said Bobotyane.
Bobotyane claimed she and her friend gave the police officers at the crime scene everything to assist them in finding Bulwana’s killer or killers.
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Police believe the victim was also raped prior to being stabbed multiple times.
With the initial suspect now released from custody, Katlehong SAPS is appealing to anyone with information about this murder to come forward.
“We appeal to members of the community who might assist us with this case to please contact the police.”
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