Cape Town - Cape Town residents living in local communities, townships and on the Cape Flats have braved yet another weekend which left several people dead, including a 65-year-old woman and her 10-year-old granddaughter.
The latter shocking incident, which has left the community of Kalksteenfontein near Bonteheuwel reeling, occurred on Saturday morning when the suspect allegedly attacked his mother, Daffidol Faro, 65, and his niece, Ashieka Erasmus, 10, in Faro’s home, leaving their bodies in peculiar positions intended to look like a robbery, according to the family.
Faro’s daughter Mikayla Faro, who made the gruesome discovery on returning home on Saturday morning, said that she had stopped by the home to charge her phone when she was greeted by a flooded house and an even darker sight further inside it.
“The first thing I saw was the water everywhere. I moved further in and then saw my mom’s body lying half in the freezer section of the fridge and half outside.
“I realised that the tap in the bathroom was running, so I went in there and found my niece in the tub. She was in the water with clothes on top of her. They were both dead.”
Faro’s other daughter and Ashieka’s mother, Moesfeeqah Erasmus, said: “My brother has always been violent, an animal, for as long as we have been alive. I’m not surprised that he did this, he’s a violent murderer who has terrorised all our lives.
“He killed his first victim before the age of 14, so I didn’t expect anything other than horror from him. My mother, however, always covered up for him, he would always hurt us, and she didn’t do anything.
“She took a protection order against him, same as Mikayla, but nothing changed, he still came after us. So every time he was out of prison I’d leave home, we all would, but my mom stayed.
“She asked for my baby, saying I should leave her here so she wouldn't be alone; now she’s dead. I blame myself, I should’ve listened to my baby when she cried to come with me.
“I should have taken her away, but I thought she would have a better life here, near school. She was so good.
“My mother coddled that monster all his life, and look what he has done, he took my baby. He has done so much harm, and now he’ll go to jail and live comfortably? It’s not fair he’ll get away with this as he has done with other murders,” Erasmus said.
The suspect, identified only as a 39-year-old man by police, is currently in police custody pending his first court appearance on a charge of murder.
Police spokesperson Joseph Swartbooi said: “Circumstances surrounding the discovery of two bodies in a house in Panoster Square, Kalksteenfontein, is under investigation.
“Bishop Lavis police attended a complaint on Saturday morning, July 23, whereupon they discovered two women inside a dwelling.”
Bishop Lavis CPF chairperson Graham Lindhorst said: “I was informed that the suspect was an ex-convict, that he had threatened his mother, moving her to get a protection order against him. They attended court three weeks ago.
“I can’t get over that he promised her that he was going to do something to her, and today she is no more. The justice system failed her and her granddaughter.”
Lindhorst said that residents aggrieved by the incident intend to demonstrate outside the Bishop Lavis Magistrate’s Court today to ensure that the suspect does not get bail.
Elsewhere, in Strandfontein, the discovery of two bodies at Mnandi Beach has left surrounding communities on edge.
The victims, a man and a woman who have yet to be identified, were discovered with gunshot wounds to their bodies.
Police say Mitchells Plain detectives have begun investigating the incident and searching for unknown suspects believed to be involved in the attack.
In another separate incident in Hanover Park, police are investigating the death of a 44-year-old woman whose body was found lying on a bed in her home in Athburg Street.
Police say Philippi officers attended to a complaint on Sunday, July 24.
“Upon their arrival, they discovered the victim’s body. The motive is unknown, and the unknown suspects who fled the scene are yet to be arrested. Philippi police are investigating a case of murder,” Swartbooi said.