A man has been arrested after his girlfriend was found dead in Atlantis.
Siphokazi Sisulu, 37, was stabbed in the neck and chest and then set alight on Saturday morning.
Her 29-year-old partner was caught by Witsand residents hours later while hitchhiking to Malmesbury.
The couple had allegedly been drinking with Siphokazi’s siblings and around midnight, they went into their shack in the front yard.
And around 1:30am on Saturday there was a fire, explains her devastated sister Anelisiwe.
“She was really drunk on Friday evening and when I questioned it, she told me her boyfriend was stressing her.
“Later, he offered her a shot of brandy which she refused and said he wanted her to get drunk so he could kill her.”
Anelisiwe says they didn’t hear any suspicious sounds.
“She didn’t scream for help. We didn’t hear anything, only when I looked outside I saw the flames and then went outside and tried to open the door which was locked,” she explains.
“My brother broke down the door, saying that he couldn’t let his sister die in the fire.
“When she was taken out, she wasn’t responsive.
“We saw that her neck had a big knife wound and she was also stabbed in the chest and her boyfriend had fled the scene.”
Community leader Xolani Blayi says they called the suspect who told them he heard about the murder but was at work.
“Around 9.30am someone from Witsand who was driving to Malmesbury saw him hitchhiking and stopped for him and then alerted us on WhatsApp; we drove to them and caught him.
“He said Siphokazi tried to stab him and he was defending himself and then confessed to murdering her,” says Blayi.
Anelisiwe says the mother of one had been with the suspect for only three months.
“My sister took him in after he had been thrown out of our neighbour’s house and that was about three months ago.
“She had mentioned that he was abusive, he would put a knife to her neck and she would say the way he was carrying on one day he would kill her.
“Her 13-year-old daughter is so shattered, she doesn’t believe her mom is gone.”
Police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk confirms: “Atlantis Police are investigating a murder case after a shack fire on Saturday at about 2.30am at a premises in Moki Street, Witsand, Atlantis.
“The deceased was found lying in front of the shack with burn wounds.
"It was discovered that the deceased sustained a stab wound and according to witness reports, the deceased was last seen with the boyfriend.
“Information was followed up and the boyfriend, a 29-year-old man, was arrested.
“The suspect will appear in the Atlantis Magistrate’s Court once charged.”