On January 5, 28-year-old Lesego Mabuse's husband, Karabo Mabuse, arrived at her family's home, saying he was worried because he could not find her.
But just two days later, he made a statement to police that led them to her bullet-ridden body, dumped in the veld outside Pretoria.
The couple had two children, aged three and seven.
Mabuse appeared in the Pretoria North magistrate's court on January 18, charged with his wife's murder.
More than a dozen members of the Bachana Mokwena Foundation, which Lesego had helped to manage, attended the hearing in yellow shirts emblazoned with her picture.
"As a family, we have lost a young and intelligent lady, who was achieving highly in her church and work," said Marumo Mokwena, a cousin. "Her children have lost both parents and are struggling to understand what is happening. We have been torn apart as a family."
Lesego's uncle was the late Bachana Bokwena, an ANC stalwart who spent years in exile and after whom the foundation was named.
The court postponed the case to the end of next month and ruled that Karabo should remain in custody.
Lesego's family had their suspicions about her disappearance from the start, Mokwena said.
Police found her body shortly after taking Karabo in for questioning. She had been shot five times.
Tshwane North police spokesperson Capt Matthews Nkoadi confirmed that Karabo had pointed out the location of the body, which was "badly decomposed"...