‘Nobody deserves to die like that.’
These are the words of the grief-stricken father of a Gugulethu woman who was strangled to death and dumped in a wheelie bin by members of the Hard Livings gang.
Months after the horrific murder which rocked Manenberg, the father of Khuselwa Ntshanga has spoken out calling on the court to keep the alleged killers behind bars as they struggle to come to grips with her death.
The body of the 29-year-old woman, known as Coco, was discovered on 6 March as commuters walking along the Duinefontein Road across the canal got a moerse skrik when they saw the legs of the woman inside the bin as the rubbish was removed.
As police photographers arrived on the scene the body was removed and this is when cops discovered Coco's body.
On the same day, Sergeant Daryl van Noie, retraced her movements and discovered that she was last seen alive at a property in Hurricane Street.
Cops descended on the house which is reportedly run as a pella pos for the Hard Livings gang and busted the huisbaas Denver Paulse. To date cops have arrested Paulse, Shaheem van Schalkwyk, Zubair Moses, Nizaam Caesar and Logan Bloys for the murder.
The determined detective also recovered the rope used to strangle her and it was discovered that the Hard Livings gang suspected her of being a spy for the Fancy Boys gang and even set her on fire before dumping the bin in the canal.
Dad Mbuyiselo, 59, says he will never forget the day he was called to inform him that his child had been murdered.
As the family arrived on the scene, her body had already been removed and they arrived at the police station where they were informed of the horrific details. Coco was buried a week later at Maitland Cemetery as cops hunted down the alleged killers.
The hartseer father says: ‘We were and still are shocked at the way she died. As the case unfolds we have learnt of the disturbing details and we are devastated. Nobody deserves to die like that."
He shared that his daughter struggled with a drug addiction for any years and various interventions by the family failed.
Mbuyiselo adds: "It started in high school with cigarettes and later she started using drugs. We found out and immediately took action.
"She didn't want to go to rehab but we moved her to Johannesburg where she was completing her studies and was doing quite well.
"We later learnt that she had a boyfriend who sells drugs and she was brought back to Cape Town and was again doing very well until she got involved with these gangsters."
The case has been postponed to 23 May as all the accused have abandoned their bail applications.
