LIMPOPO – The missing student from Letaba TVET College in Tzaneen has been found dead.
In a statement issued by the Department of Social Development, MEC Nkakareng Rakgoale confirmed that 20-year old Kgaogelo Shai’s decomposed body was discovered at Mokgoloboto village outside Tzaneen on Monday.
Read more: TVET student goes missing days before boyfriend ‘commits suicide’
Shai was reported missing two weeks ago and was last seen on 29 August in the presence of her boyfriend at the time, Ronny Kgatla, from Mokgoloboto village. Kgatla was reportedly out on parole for murder and died in a suspected suicide two days after her disappearance. At the time, the police searched the area and at her friends and relatives, with no success.
The discovery of Shai’s body comes days after a Gr 12 learner was stabbed to death at ga-Madiba village outside Mokopane, by her boyfriend. Kagiso Ramokone Kale (17) was found lying in a pool of blood on Wednesday last week and her 19-year-old boyfriend was arrested hours after the discovery. He appeared before the Mokerong Magistrate’s Court outside Mokopane on Friday, 4 September on a charge of murder and was denied bail. He is expected to appear again on 11 September.
Read more: MEC calls for harsher sentences for GBV perpetrators following stabbing of Kagiso Kale
“It is with heavy hearts we have to mourn the death of yet another young woman who was killed during a gender-based violence incident.” She added that the country cannot tolerate the scourge of GBV crimes any longer. “It has to come to an end. We need to find the solution together as citizens or we will continue to stand next to the open graves of women and children.”
She confirmed that social workers have been deployed to assist the families of the deceased, to offer psycho-social support.
The provincial government will host a virtual imbizo on gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) on Thursday. The imbizo will be broadcast on various community radio stations as well as live streamed on the Office of the Premier’s Facebook page.
