The battered body of Vusimusi Nhlanhla Mathebula is the last memory his family has of him. His sister Winile, who had to identify his body at the mortuary on Tuesday, says the state of Mathebula’s body will forever haunt them.
Mathebula and Franklin Peterson were found murdered, tied with wire and wrapped in plastic and blankets at a house in Eldorado Park, Johannesburg, last week Friday.
Bloody walls and curtains, blankets and barbed wire were among the most notable items left behind at the crime scene.
Gauteng police spokesperson Brig Mathapelo Peters confirmed that two men aged 40 and 50 were arrested for the murders. Peters said a manhunt had been launched for two other suspects.
“They didn’t deserve to die like that. They didn’t have to kill him, because no-one can cope in the family. We used to see these murders on the TV and you would never think that one day it will knock at your door.
“It is not the way to kill a person, because you don’t even kill and bury a dog like that.”
Winile sits on the bed of the shack where Mathebula used to live. Next to her are a burning candle and a bag of clothes. These are the clothes they would put on him for burial.
She said she was the closest sibling to Mathebula and described her younger brother as a “hustler” who would provide for the family. They are eight children.
“He was a kind, nice and easy guy and was always there for me.”
Winile said she suspected Mathebula’s life took a turn for the worst when their mother died in 2014. He got involved in drugs and with the wrong people. Winile said he would also stay away from home for days on end.
“I don’t know what happened. For us as a family it was very painful because we tried to help him and tried to take him to rehab.
“It is not the way our mother raised us, and it is not what we wanted for his life. We wanted the best for him, but at the end of the day he chose the life he lived. Maybe he expected us to give him the love that we got from my mother, but maybe we were too busy with life and that pushed him away."
Winile said the family was shocked when they heard Mathebula’s body was found at the house in Eldorado Park on Friday.
“No-one in the family can cope. I can’t even believe that he is gone. I still hope that he would come home and knock at the door and say, my sister, they are lying, I am still alive,” she said before breaking into tears.
“I can’t even sleep because he was a friend to me. Someone I could talk to and share things with.”
According to ward councillor Peter Rafferty, a neighbour raised the alarm after hearing screams coming from the house in Extension 9 at about 2am on Friday.
But when police arrived later that day, the house seemed quiet, he said.
“The community members stood guard outside the house and waited for someone to return. After a long wait, one of the community members entered the yard because they claimed they saw someone peeping at the window. When they looked through the window they saw the blood on the ground, and that’s where it all started,” Rafferty said.
Pastor and community leader Dwain Ponsonby said he was at a meeting when he received a call from Rafferty to assist at the scene.
“When I got to the house, the community members had already lifted the gate from the rack. The window was open and there was a lot of blood on the floors and on the walls of the house. If you looked through the window you saw dog chains, barbed wires and handcuffs on the floor,” Ponsonby said.
Police were on the scene, but waited for the green light to enter the home, he added.
“When the permission came through, together with the police, we forcibly broke the burglar gate, and when we finally broke the door down and entered the home, the scene was worse than what we initially thought.
“The floors throughout the open-plan living area and kitchen were covered in blood.”
Peterson’s cousin Natasha Louw said he was a very reserved person and always respectful of his elders. “He always said he wanted to be successful one day.”
Louw said their grandmother came from church on Friday when she saw the “commotion” outside the home where the bodies were found.
“Someone told her that his body is lying in the house, but they couldn’t confirm that it was his or someone else.”
Louw said after police entered the home, her grandmother positively identified Peterson.
“She doesn’t speak about it that much, but I’m sure it must have been terrifying. We are trying to deal with everything that has happened, but for now we are just focusing on the funeral.
“I am trusting that the police will bring the suspects or murderers to justice, because they need to pay for what they did to my cousin and Vusi.”
On Tuesday evening, a night vigil was held at the crime scene for Mathebula and Peterson.
Community members gathered in numbers and placed burning candles and flowers outside the gates of the home where their bodies were found. Three crosses were also placed nearby in remembrance of Mathebula and Peterson.
Peterson will be buried on Friday, while Mathebula will be buried on Saturday.
Police were also probing a crime scene at Klipspruit West Cemetery, where a body was found on Thursday, said Peters.
“Investigation will establish whether the two crime scenes are connected,” Peters said.
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