Families of some of the murder victims who were killed in their homes in the past year say police could not have done anything to prevent the murders.
The families of Matumelo Lehloibi and Langelihle Mnguni spoke to Sowetan yesterday on the backdrop of the release of the annual crime statistics by police minister Bheki Cele on Friday.
The families said they were pleased with the manner in which their cases were being handled as the police could not have prevented the murders.
In October, Thabo Lehloibi allegedly confessed to hiring hitmen to kill his wife, Matumelo Lehloibi, in a rented room in Dlamini, Soweto.
Lehloibi and Thabang Kwena were arrested for murder, conspiracy to commit murder and armed robbery. The pair is due back in the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg on September 10 when their trial is expected to resume.
Lehloibi allegedly confessed to hiring Kwena to kill his wife for R70,000 in October.
Matumelo's cousin, Moeketsi Mofokeng, said they were still confused about her murder at the hands of her husband.
"Police could not have protected my cousin. People sometimes don't know they are living with their killers; police could not have known that as well," Mofokeng said.
"It hurts that he would [allegedly] commit something like this. It doesn't make sense why he would go and do something like this. But we are happy that the police were able to get to the bottom of this in no time because his story didn't make sense."
Mofokeng added that he failed to understand why his cousin had to be killed for money she worked for.
"He was the man of the house and as such, he should have protected and provided for her."
The annual crime statistics indicated that murders increased by 1.4% during the period under review compared to the previous year. Cele said 21,325 people were murdered nationally, an increase of 303 incidents from 21,022 murders in the previous year.
In Gauteng, 4,495 people were murdered in the period under review, an increase of 6.2% (262 incidents) compared to the 4,233 murders recorded in the previous period.
Lehloibi claimed that Matumelo was a prophet and was hiding money from him and no longer engaged him in her finances.
Meanwhile, Mannana Cynthia Tsabane is expected back in court on August 27 for the murder of one-year-old Langelihle Mnguni.
She faces a charge of murder and attempting to defeat the ends of justice after she allegedly killed the toddler she was hired to care for in Daveyton, on the East Rand, in November 2019.
The toddler's father, Mpho Shabalala, said the incident has traumatised his family.
"The case has been interrupted by Covid-19 in recent months. But we are back in court later on this month for a high court date. We will know when it will be transferred to the high court for trial," Shabalala said.
He said despite the incident, he was grateful that justice was being served.
"He had his life ahead of him and for it to be taken away from him and from us is something that always remains with us," Shbalala said.
Other stats in brief
Attempted murder - Reported cases rose to 18,635 from 18,908 in the previous period;
Rape - 42,289 cases, an increase of 706 from 41,583;
Assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm- 166,720, a decrease of 4,259 from 170,979 in the previous period.
Armed robberies - increased by 2.8% to 143,990 cases from 140,032.
Carjacking - increased by 2,136 cases from 16,026 in the previous year to 18,162.
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