The Protea Glen room in which Tshepang Pitse was murdered and dismembered by her boyfriend and cousin Flavio Hlabangwane was vacant for two years after the horrific incident.
Only the main house had a tenant.
This week, the Johannesburg high court found Hlabangwane, 28, guilty of premeditated murder, defeating the ends of justice and violating a corpse.
According to Woman For Change, an NPO that fights gender-based violence (GBV), Pitse was an MBA student at the University of Johannesburg (UJ).
After finding her body parts in Hlabangwane's fridge, his new girlfriend raised the alarm with neighbours and the police.
Hlabangwane confessed to killing Pitse, saying he plotted to do so after discovering she had been unfaithful to him.
On Wednesday, residents of the quiet, unassuming street in Protea Glen, Soweto, where the incident occurred, reflected on the horrific crime which happened metres from their homes.
One said the growing crowd and forensics members puzzled them, but this paled in comparison to what they would discover next — that Hlabangwane had chopped up Pitse and stashed her body parts in his fridge. He buried her head in Randfontein, and her torso was found in Kliprivier.
Masingita Chauke, who lives opposite the house, recalled the few times she saw Pitse.
"I felt so bad when I read the story because every time I took out the dustbin I used to see the lady. I didn't get to talk to her, but every Wednesday I'd see her [and] sometimes say hi."
Chauke spoke fondly of Hlabangwane.
"To me,[he] was a nice guy. Once my car needed to be jump-started and he assisted me."
A neighbour who lives next to the property on which Pitse was butchered said she would see Hlabangwane on her way to the shop, "standing under a tree and watching me a lot".
"He always had his phone with him but never spoke to me," said the woman who did not want to be identified, adding she had an uneasy feeling about the actuarial science graduate.
Both neighbours recalled that fateful November morning, saying they initially thought nothing of the activity outside the house.
For Chauke, it was a normal weekend day spent indoors despite the presence of a police van outside her home. Only her children's excitement at the unfolding events caused her to go out and investigate. It was then that the horrific details were laid bare.
"I'm happy that justice took its course. We don't know the reason he did what he did to the poor lady. He's the only one who knows," she said sombrely.
"He deserves the sentence he got," her neighbour added.
The matter was postponed to February 10 for pre-sentencing reports.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.