Woman stabs and kills boyfriend

Soweto – A woman has appeared in court for allegedly stabbing her lover to death during an argument.

  The woman, Makhosazana Shabani, 42, appeared at the Protea magistrate’s court on Friday on a murder charge. She allegedly attacked Isaac Mathebela, 42, last week and stabbed him several times in the head. The man died on a bed in their rented room in Jabulani last Wednesday.

  Shabani’s brother Khulekani Shabani said the couple fought after he and two of his friends dropped off the woman at their home on Monday night.

  He said he heard that the man was upset because Makhosi jumped out of a vehicle with three men inside.

  “He didn’t know that I was in the vehicle and accused my sister of cheating on him. Their neighbour said they started fighting as soon as they entered the room,” he said.

  He added that he had been drinking liquor with the couple at their family home in Zola earlier in the day, and that Mathebela was drunk when they dropped off his sister.

  “They called me the next morning and I found blood all over their room. Their bed was soaked with blood and Isaac had a huge gash on his forehead. Mathebela said I must not worry because they had resolved their issues. I advised that he needed medical attention, but he said he would be fine. My sister also advised him to go to the hospital because he had bled a lot,” Khulekani said.

  He said next day he was called by a neighbour to say Mathebela had died.

  Police spokesperson Captain Mavela Masondo confirmed the case and said Shabani was arrested on Wednesday.

  In an identical incident last week police arrested a womanfor allegedly killing her 40-year-old boyfriend in KwaThema.

  The woman, 31, allegedly stabbed her boyfriend, Veli Mahlangu, several times with a knife.

  Police spokesperson Constable Media Khoza said the incident took place last Wednesday afternoon.

  “A witness said the victim ran towards his direction being chased by his girlfriend. He suddenly fell, and he realised the victim had been stabbed and the girlfriend had a knife, and had blood on her,” Khoza said.

  The girlfriend, who would not be named before she appeared in court, allegedly tried to escape, but was arrested.

  Neighbours alleged that the lovers were drunk at the time. One said they heard noise from the couple’s room, the girlfriend asking Mahlangu why he bought a big pack of mealie-meal. 

  “She complained that they now did not have enough money to buy beer. He tried explaining that he wanted the mealie-meal to last until monthend. The argument escalated, and because Veli did not like violence, he just came to chill with us outside. About an hour later he returned to the room. We heard a noise again, then he came running out of the house, his girlfriend chasing him holding a knife. She stabbed him twice more in the chest, once in the neck and in his back,” the neighbour said.

  Another neighbour said Mahlangu collapsed on the pavement near his home. 

  “When I got to him he was on the ground and running out of breath. The woman was drunk; after she stabbed him she just stood there with the knife in her hands, blood dripping from it. We called paramedics and the police, but sadly he died before help could arrive,” he said.

  The mother of deceased Mahlangu’s three-year-old daughter, Sibongile Matsana said she had last seen him the previous week.

  “He and I broke up in October when he went to stay with his girlfriend, but we were fixing things because he spent the entire week with me. He wanted to come back home, and had planned to come back in the next week. He was not a violent man; he was down to earth and always smiled,” Matsana said.