How Lady Held Her Mum Down While Boyfriend Raped, Murdered Her

BY CAMI EZENWA

It reads like a line from a movie script but not even in the world of make-belief are such dastardly and demonic roles common.

Or how do you rationalise the point that one’s blood daughter is the mastermind of her hapless death, not just taking part in planning it but in physically pinning her down for men-friends to rape her in turns, and at the end of it all, murdering her?

But that is the gripping synopsis of a rare case of betrayal, dehumanising abuse, rape and murder of 62 year old pensioner, Wanter Dlamini.

According to reports, at the base of the murder of the South African woman was her R80 000 insurance policy, a major reward for her years of meritorious service.  It would have been okay if these same daughters she labored and sacrificed for in her prime had just taken her pension entitlements where they had their eyes, and allowed her to be.

Instead, police allege that one daughter held her mother down as her and her sisters’ boyfriends raped her in turns, and after satisfying themselves, they went ahead and strangled the woman.

The Mpumalanga community in South Africa where Wanter Dlamini lived had been stirred no end by the case and is eagerly awaiting April when the case comes up for mention again.

At the centre of the harrowing case is Nonhlanhla Mthunywa, 30, and her sister, who was not at home at the time of the murder but is alleged to have helped plan it. The two are currently playing back their actions behind bars while the police is on the heels of their boyfriends and a third person who are still at large, in connection with the case.

It was last January 6, that Mthunywa allegedly invited her mother to her home where her 41-year-old friend, as well as her boyfriend and her sister’s lover, were lying in wait.

Taking over the narration, The Star newspaper quotes Brigadier Leonard Hlathi, the spokesperson for the Mpumalanga police, as saying: “When she (Dlamini) eventually arrived at Mthunywa’s place, she was allegedly kidnapped, assaulted, senselessly gang-raped by the two male friends whilst Mthunywa and her friend were holding her.

“When the suspects were done with their barbaric deeds, they strangled Dlamini to death, wrapped her body with a blanket and then hid it in an outside toilet,” Hlathi said.

Later that day Mthunywa’s 29-year-old sister arrived and was informed that her mother’s body had been hidden in the toilet.

“The sibling was restless to a point where she organised transport which helped to remove Dlamini’s body and dumped it in a nearby veld,” Hlathi said.

A passerby stumbled upon Dlamini’s body and alerted police.

The report quotes the police officer as saying: “I have never seen anything like this in my career and next month I will be 31 years in the police,” .

Lieutenant General Mondli Zuma, the Provincial Commissioner of Police in Mpumalanga, has also condemned Dlamini’s murder and welcomed the arrests.

“It is very shameful to witness the murders of people who are allegedly killed or kidnapped by their own family members that are driven by greed and the love of money.

“There is indeed a degeneration of morals in our society and we call on faith-based organisations as well as community based organisations to work hand in gloves with the police with a view to instill morals in the society, ” Zuma said.

“It has since surfaced that in November 2019, an insurance policy was taken by Mthunywa’s friend wherein Dlamini’s name was in the centre of the policy and her unnatural death would imply that there would be a double cash payouts” , the newspaper reported.