Rustenburg - A 24-year-old man accused of killing his girlfriend appeared briefly in the Zeerust Magistrate's Court on Monday, North West police said. He was one of three men accused of murdering their lovers in the province.
Police spokesperson Captain Aafje Botma said the case against Isaac Molefe was postponed to December 8. He will remain in custody.
Molefe was arrested after he allegedly stabbed his girlfriend. Tshwanelo Seleke, 25, at Ikageleng near Zeerust on November 1.
"It is alleged that the police found Seleke's lifeless body with multiple stab wounds in the face, upper and lower body.
"According to reports, the pair were coming from a tavern when an argument, which led to Seleke's death ensued. The suspect who ran away after the incident was arrested a few hours later. Investigation into the matter continues," Captain Botma said.
North West Social Development MEC Boitumelo Moiloa has called for justice for Seleke, describing her death as a major setback in the gains made in the fight against gender-based violence across the country.
"Gender-based violence has become the second pandemic in our province and the country at large. We dare not to back down. We will not be defeated until we win the war against the abuse of women.
"What was difficult for the boyfriend to just walk away? A possible senseless argument has now cut short a bright future of a young woman who was a breadwinner at home."
Moiloa said gender-based violence cases in Ramotshere Moiloa municipality were becoming worrisome, adding that another young woman was murdered in Gopane near Lehurutshe in September this year.
Two other men were due to appear in the Klerksdorp Magistrate's Court also for the alleged murder of their girlfriends.
A 33-year-old man is accused of killing his girlfriend, Tsholofele Olifant, 30, in Jouberton near Klerksdorp.
He allegedly stabbed and killed her on October 30 in Jouberton near Klerksdorp. The woman was found wrapped in a sheet and a blanket under a bed.
"According to information, the suspect assaulted the victim with a chain, then threatened and chased away his sister after she tried to intervene. However, the sister went back to the place on Monday, 1 November 2021, but her brother informed her that Tsholofele went to Vryburg. Despite sensing a bad smell, she left," Captain Botma said.
The sister went back to her brother’s house again on November 3. She did not find her brother and managed to gain entrance into the house.
"Subsequent to another sense of a bad smell, she found the victim’s lifeless body wrapped in a sheet and a blanket under the bed. Thus, she called the police," Captain Botma said.
In another case, a 37-year-old man was expected to appear in the Klerksdorp Magistrate's Court for the alleged murder of his girlfriend, Sylvia Meimane, 25.
Captain Botma said he was arrested on November 4 after the police were called to Tshepong Hospital in Klerksdorp, where Meimane’s uncle informed them that she was fighting with her boyfriend at the uncle's house in Jouberton when he allegedly stabbed her on the left arm with a knife and ran away.
She was transported to hospital, where she was certified dead on arrival. The boyfriend was traced and arrested.
IOL