The speaker of Mbombela Local Municipality, Mandla Msibi called on the community of Pienaar to be calm and not take the law into their hands.
He said this during the funeral service of 16-year-old Nomthandazo Mbatha, a grade 12 learner of Ncakini Secondary School, who was allegedly raped and killed by fellow learner Calvin Chiloane on April 8. Chiloane died in the Pienaar Police holding cells after allegedly committing suicide on Saturday April 13.
“Both the victim and the suspect belong to our community and we believe that their parents know nothing about their death. We understand the anger of the community, but we ask them to calm down, being asked by the traditional leaders and the MEC of education, let us hold hands and work together to build a better community,” said Msibi.
Read: Pienaar teen allegedly raped and killed by fellow learner
Thousands of mourners attended the funeral service at Mthopi Primary.
“She wanted to be an accountant, went to study and it all fell apart. What a loss,” said Nomthandazo’s uncle this morning.
Also read: Education MEC visits school and home of murdered matriculant
In his condolences MEC Sibusiso Malaza said “As much as we cannot reverse this situation, we are obliged to let Nomthandazo rest in peace. Let’s allow her to path to peace regardless of how she died,” he said.
Malaza added that such situation is a clear indication that parents need to be closer to their children, especially fathers, as absent parenting leads to such unfortunate developments.
