A police officer who allegedly gunned down his wife and her two siblings had attempted to kill his wife twice before.
The siblings' uncle revealed this to Sowetan, saying his niece had been abused for the longest time.
He further revealed that some of the cases his niece Nomthandazo Mnisi opened against the officer, Cedrick Khoza, were later dropped.
This was also confirmed by Independent Police Investigative Directorate Robbie Raburabu.
Mnisi and her sister Colisile Mnisi, who were both nurses, and their brother Denis Mkhatshwa were shot and killed last Sunday during a meeting at the couple's home in Kamajika Trust near Sabie Sand in Mpumalanga.
Khoza is a constable stationed at the Masoyi police station.
His wife, Nomthandazo, worked at the Marite Clinic while Colisile worked at Matikwana Hospital.
The uncle, who asked not to be named, alleged that Khoza first knocked Nomthandazo with his vehicle and the second time he took her to the Inyaka Dam in Bushbuckridge where he tried to drown her, but her life was spared when a passer-by intervened.
“She then packed her clothes and moved back home,” the uncle said.
The uncle said the wife opened a case against Khoza, but after receiving counselling from their pastor, she withdrew the case, forgave him and went back to live with him.
“He kept abusing her until she was shot dead,” the uncle said.
The uncle said the couple had two children aged five and seven.
He said the meeting was held to resolve the dispute between the two. At the time of the shooting, their children were at home, he said.
The uncle said he was told that Khoza's two relatives and the three siblings were at the meeting.
He said he was informed that Khoza got angry after Mkhatshwa told him that "enough is enough” and that he had abused his sister for too long and that he should move out of the house because his sister built it.
"[Khoza] went to fetch his firearm and told the brother that 'you are not going to patronise me in my own home' and then shot him and the sisters one after the other,” said the uncle, adding that the family was “extremely appalled”.
The siblings were buried on Sunday.
The National Prosecuting Authority said Khoza is facing three counts of murder. He appeared in the Kabokweni magistrate's court last week but did not apply for bail, said NPA Mpumalanga spokesperson Monica Nyuswa.
The case was postponed to June 13 for further investigation.
chabalalaj@sowetan.co.za
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