Daughter hopes for justice in mother, brother’s murders

“The past three years have been excruciatingly painful – I lost my family, my sense of belonging, the friend and confidant I had in my mother, and my brother who always stood up for me, even though he was younger than me.”

So says Kgothatso Matseme whose mother Dorah Kgomotso and brother Rorisang Given were murdered in their The Orchards home on July 26, 2019.

Her comments came as the trial of the four men accused of the crime was ongoing in the North Gauteng High Court this week.

Alex Hlumela Mashaba (20), Silence Magata Thantsha (22), Koketso Molobi (23) and Lethabo Gift Ntsoane (18) are accused of the crime.

According to the argument put forth by the prosecutors in the case, the men are accused of overpowering 15-year-old Rorisang and blindfolding him, tying him up and waiting for his mother to arrive.

Upon her arrival, Dorah was also tied up and blindfolded.

The four then allegedly ransacked the house and stole cellphones, a laptop, plasma television, sound system and a Renault Clio car.

Before leaving the house, the four are accused of placing plastic bags over the mother and son’s heads and killing them.

Their bodies were found half-submerged in a bathtub full of water.

The mother’s cause of death, as stipulated in the post mortem, was consistent with asphyxia death (suffocation) while her son’s was stipulated as blunt force trauma to the head.

Matseme, a then-final year student, was not home at the time.

“I lost my support structure,” she said.

“I did not cope with the trauma and grief. My mental health continued to deteriorate. By 2021, I was admitted to a psychiatric facility as I was struggling with suicidal thoughts and depression.

“I was diagnosed with major depressive disorder and started treatment. I took a break from work to try and recover – fortunately, I got the help I desperately needed.”

She said that while the trial might have taken a while to get underway, she was glad that it was only happening now.

“I’m in a much better place to handle being in court, facing the accused, and even testifying against them in court,” Matseme said.

She added that she was also in a better place to seek support from friends and the community of The Orchards.

“I need support. I am pleading with the community of The Orchards and Akasia at large to stand with me and see justice take its course for a better and safer community.

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“I’m hopeful that justice will prevail,” she said.

She further said that during the ongoing court proceedings, she recently found herself feeling sorry for the four accused as there was “obviously something very wrong with them”.

“The only thing that can be done to prevent them from doing this to someone else is by putting them behind bars,” she said.

Matseme further said that while she was doing much better emotionally, the road had been long and difficult.

“I suffered from violent and intrusive thoughts and images of how they suffered in their last moments. I was also unhappy all the time,” she said.

Even upon completion of her undergraduate studies, she still did not find any joy.

“I finished school, but all I could do was cry when others were celebrating,” Matseme said.

She also struggled with thoughts of paranoia, not feeling comfortable nor safe, having night terrors and nightmares.

To date, she said she struggles with her memory and concentration.

“My performance at work is not what it once was compared to my undergraduate years – I was energetic and enthusiastic, a hard worker, but now I have become apathetic about work and studies,” she said.

Describing her mother, Matseme said she was a very soft-spoken woman who was humble, hard-working and loved her job.

She said her brother, on the other hand, was a ball of energy and a typical teenager who was always glued to his phone and had a huge interest in cars.

“I miss having a family, I miss having a home to go to, I miss the sense of belonging and acceptance… I sometimes forget and mistakenly try to call my mum,” she said.

Matseme said she hoped that justice would prevail.

The trial was expected to conclude on Friday.

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