Family left without answers after man accused of setting Mamelodi woman alight dies

A Mamelodi family has been left without answers after the death of the man accused of dousing his girlfriend with petrol and setting her alight.

On Wednesday Gauteng police spokesperson Col Mavela Masondo confirmed the death of Eric Marakalala, 55. 

“The suspect was found dead in police cells on Tuesday afternoon. Police have opened an inquest docket and a postmortem will be conducted to establish the cause of death,” he said.

Marakalala was facing an attempted murder charge after he allegedly assaulted Lindiwe Zitha, 51, before pouring petrol over her and setting her on fire. It is understood he sustained burn wounds during the attack.

She is the sister of former Banyana Banyana player Khabo Zitha, who told TimesLIVE Lindiwe is on life support as she was burnt from head to toe.

Zitha said she had been notified of Marakalala's death and said it left the family without answers.

“We got a call from the police station telling us Marakalala wasn't feeling well and was being taken to Mamelodi Hospital. Fifteen minutes later they called again and said he passed away in the cells.

“We don't know what happened. He's left us in a dilemma because won't get answers on why he did what he did,” she said.

Zitha said the family was shocked to learn he had been in a relationship with her sister for the past 15 years.

“I saw him once or twice and thought he was a taxi driver working for my family. I'm told they had been together for a long time but he went away at some point and they broke up. He came back about eight months ago and he terrorised the family,” she said.

Zitha said that her sister had taken out two protection orders against Marakalala in the past.

TimesLIVE

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