Murder amidst poverty

Leinanyana Tsiane | Wednesday March 26, 2014 15:38

He said he has been left to care for their three children, with the assistance of his wife Susan. They even ask for assistance from their neighbours to help the children with their homework. He further said teachers at the children’s school are doing their best to help with the school work and visit the children on a regular basis to assess their school work. “The children are not at boarding school but we have been told that further assessment will be made to see if they can be moved to the school, “ Khanxa added. “These two people were always fighting and this became worse after her boyfriend was no longer working. I think it was a case of male ego because Botshau was the bread winner then, “ lamented Khanxa.

According to Khanxa, Botshau was employed at Kuke Bakery and she was responsible for her children and her boyfriend . “The couple has three children, two boys aged 15 and 11 and their 13 year-old sister. Since the mother passed on, life has been unbearable. It is fortunate that the Gantsi District Council came to our rescue immediately. These children have been registered under the orphans grant and they are now getting their monthly baskets,” said Khanxa. All three children attend school at Kuke Primary School.

He however, said they have to struggle with other life necessities as they all live under one roof. It is a one roomed mud house and it houses a family of seven as Khanxa and two of his brothers all live there.  Their sister was the only one employed. “To make matters worse we are all unemployed which means we rely on my late sister’s childrens food baskets. It is so sad because her boyfriend whom I hear is out on bail and living in Gantsi is unemployed and since her passing on, he has never come to check on his children,” he added.

The soft spoken Khanxa could not hide his sadness and said it is not clear why this man killed his sister as there are many stories circulating in Kuke. He said he heard that his sister’s boyfriend said he did not want his girlfriend to wear pants when she went for work and that she smoked dagga something that he did not want. He however, could not rule out jealousy on the part of the boyfriend as he once accused his sister of two timing him which led him to quit his job in Gantsi.

Apparently the boyfriend was once employed by Gantsi District Council, picking litter but left the job to be close to his girlfriend. “These are some of the stories I heard about how my sister met her demise. But I am not going to dwell on these. Though it is not easy for me and my wife to raise my nephews and niece, we are going to try and give them the love their mother could still be giving them,” he said. Khanxa is pleading with members of the public to come to their rescue and help build them a house and also donate clothes to the children. He added that he is grateful for what the council is giving them and hopes others will follow.

The BDP Women’s Wing in Gantsi donated groceries worth P1,000 to the Bushi family and has promised more. “We contributed the money during the women’s prayer session that we held and we decided to buy the family groceries” said Sethunya Ramoswaane. Ramoswaane is the Deputy Chairperson of Gantsi District Council.