Neighbour unwittingly helps carry dead body to dumpsite

When one half of a Zimbabwean couple renting a back room in Cyprian Dlamini’s yard in Wattville, Benoni, came home with a brand new suitcase and told him she was leaving her allegedly abusive partner, he sympathised with her and even encouraged the move.

When she was spotted lugging the “packed” suitcase out of the yard, a neighbour allegedly offered to help carry the bag for her and make her trip easier.

Little did Dlamini know that just hours later, the pair would be linked to the gruesome discovery made by crime prevention wardens about a kilometre away near a “dumping” site in neighbouring community Actonville. 

Actonville and Wattville are separated by a railway line. 

Both communities were left traumatised and horrified on Saturday when the mutilated remains of Brighton Mazadza were found inside the suitcase.

“The wardens were conducting patrols when they came across a man and woman pushing a heavy suitcase. The pair were stopped and while searching the bag, the woman ran away. A mutilated body was found inside the bag. The man, 53, was arrested,” Gauteng police spokesperson Col Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi revealed. 

“Further investigations by the detectives revealed the woman was the victim’s girlfriend and that they were staying together in Actonville. The circumstances that led to the gruesome murder are unknown at this stage.”

Nevhuhulwi confirmed that the woman, 33, handed herself over to police on Sunday and appeared alongside her neighbour in the Benoni magistrate’s court on Monday.

NPA spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said the case against the two was postponed to November 23. 

“This is for home affairs to verify the status of accused two, to do an address verification for accused two and a profile for both suspects. They are both [still] in custody,” she said.

They face charges of murder and violation of a dead body.

Shocked Wattville residents opened up to TimesLIVE Premium on Mazadza’s shocking death and the toxic relationship he had with his partner of more than two years.

Mazadza’s close friend and mentor Chaltwin Nyarugwe, 47, revealed how he used to mediate whenever the couple fought. According to him, Mazadza had paid lobolo for the woman and they were regarded as husband and wife. They also shared a young child, while Mazadza had two older children from his previous marriage.

“On Thursday, I was with friends at home when the wife came here looking for him, but I told her he wasn’t here. After about 30 minutes, Mazadza arrived from their home looking for her. 

“They had some differences [at the time] because Mazadza was cheating and had a girlfriend. She complained about his cheating repeatedly and they used to fight about it,” he explained.

The troubled pair left Nyarugwe’s home and fought all the way home, according to the friend, but it was the last straw for Nyarugwe, who told them he could no longer intervene in their domestic squabbles as he had his own problems.

Mazadza, who worked as an electrician, returned later and asked to sleep at his friend’s house. He also shared his suspicions that his partner would kill him one day, but Nyarugwe quickly dismissed his fears and instead encouraged him to focus on repairing the relationship.

“He also told me he no longer loved her because he was [allegedly] arrested because of her,” Nyarugwe revealed.

On Friday, Mazadza left his friend’s home for work and that was the last time Nyarugwe saw him. A day later, Nyarugwe was told that his friend’s remains had been found in Actonville. A disbelieving Nyarugwe rushed to his friend’s home to verify the information with Mazadza’s landlord and they confirmed the horrific news.

I saw her as I was heading out to the stadium on Saturday. I didn’t pay much attention to her but she told me she was packing her things and leaving because Mazadza didn’t want to come home.

—  Landlord Cyprian Dlamini

Dlamini told TimesLIVE Premium that Mazadza had been his tenant for five years and had posed no problems during his stay. He explained that the woman had moved in with him about two years ago. He too confirmed that the couple often argued, with issues of infidelity being their main trouble. 

“They were always fighting and it once got so bad that she had to get stitches,” he revealed.

Dlamini also confirmed that Mazadza and his partner were at his friend’s house just a day before he disappeared. When he questioned the woman on his whereabouts that Friday, she told him that he had slept over at his friend’s house.

A day later, Dlamini saw her carrying the brand new bag. She had got up early that morning to do the laundry before walking out on the father of her child.

“I saw her as I was heading out to the stadium on Saturday. I didn’t pay much attention to her, but she told me she was packing her things and leaving because Mazadza didn’t want to come home.

“She passed me several times with the bag, but I paid her no mind. She [apparently] first managed to move the lower body [using an Uber] and then asked for help the second time,” he said.

Dlamini said he didn't hear any suspicious noise coming from their room before Mazadza’s death and wasn’t concerned when the woman passed carrying the heavy bag because of the explanation she gave.

Over in Actonville, neighbours who were there when Mazadza’s body was found mostly corroborated what Dlamini and Nyarugwe said.

They also pointed out the exact spots where Mazadza’s remains were found as they shared their “trauma” over what happened.

The first is a dumping site of sorts where his charred lower body and arms were apparently found among the strewn rubbish.

The second is a street where the bag containing the rest of his body was left lying for hours before police finally removed it from the scene. All that remains is a large brown spot where the blood dried up and a stench that still lingers two days after the fact.

Community member Godfrey Mashigo was among the first to arrive at the scene and even caught a glimpse of the woman as she ran away after she was stopped.

“I would’ve caught her if I was alerted [to the situation] because we have a lot of trouble with thieves,” he said.

He explained that the wardens were coming from the opposite direction and got suspicious when they saw them carrying the heavy bag.

They stopped them, and as they were searching the bag, the man allegedly said they were carrying a cow’s head in the bag, which is apparently what he had been told by the woman.

As the warden moved to search the bag, the woman reportedly made a run for it, leaving the neighbour with the bag and suspicious contents. 

She also left her handbag containing all her personal belongings at the scene, and this led to her handing herself over, according to Mashigo.

It was alleged that, while waiting for a photographer from the SAPS, community members noticed other body parts a few metres from the scene. These were linked to the head in the suitcase.

“We’ll never forget what happened,” Mashigo said.