Mother of two killed in stabbing rampage

It was like a female version of the story of David and Jonathan – two best friends, inseparable, that is until a knife-wielding madman brought their fairy tale to an abrupt end in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The two cousins, Portia and Dimakatso Khumalo grew up together like siblings in the home of their grandmother, 64-year-old Julia Ndlovu in Top city.
Dikamatso (27) recalls how her cousin, a daycare teacher of the same age and mother to two boys, aged three and six, arrived at her place in Greenfield at 19:00, saying she felt like having a few drinks.
“Portia bought some drinks to enjoy at my place. At about 22:00, we ran out and decided to buy some more from a nearby tavern. We ended up staying for a few hours and played a game or two of pool.
“We decided to go home at about 02:00 and, on our way back, we met up with our uncle and his friend. They offered to accompany us back home as it was not safe. Along the way, we saw some men fighting and my uncle recognised the man they were beating up. He intervened and was able to break up the fight.”
Unfortunately, after his victim left, the knife-wielding man turned on their uncle and stabbed him. The cousins and their uncle’s friend fled when the assailant and a group of his friends started chasing after them.
“I was able to manoeuvre through the short-cuts and ran home to call for help but my cousin wasn’t so lucky. They caught her and, by the time I went back to help her, it was already too late.
Dikamatso describes how she saw her cousin’s body in a pool of blood.
“I stood there, heartbroken and in disbelief,” she says. A nurse who lived nearby tried to console her and said she had attended to Portia, but that she had died.
“I told her she was lying and that my cousin was still alive. It was only when the emergency services declared her dead on the scene that I realised it was true,” she said sobbing.
According to Const. Kelebogile Trom, SAPS spokesperson, an eyewitness saw the group of men pulling Portia’s hair and the 37-year-old suspect plunging a knife into her chest.
When the police arrived at the scene at 03:30, their uncle and another man who had also been stabbed were lying next to Portia. They were later taken to the hospital.
The cousins’ grandmother says she loved Portia as her own child.
“Her love for children was evident in the exceptional way that she took care of children at the daycare centre,” she said.