Pretoria - A murder case has been op ened after it was confirmed that 28-year-old Sivenathi Sebe, who was found dead next to a railway station in Pretoria West last month, was sexually assaulted and strangled.
Sebe, originally from East London, had come to Gauteng to further her studies. She stayed at a rented place with her friends in Pretoria West and was a student at Joburg Central TVET College.
According to Sebe’s family, she went missing on November 4 after a Friday night out with her friends. When her friends realised she had not come back, they contacted the police to open a missing person case.
It was at that time that they learnt that a female body had been found next to a railway station in Pretoria West.
Friends and family were initially told that an investigation found she had fallen asleep near the station and died. However, they did not believe this because her body had severe wounds and signs of sexual assault.
This week, they said it had been a struggle to get the police to register the death as murder.
The family members said they were still in shock over Sebe’s death, and would “try by all means” to bring the case to light and get justice for her.
Her brother, Thando Sebe, said: “I find it extremely difficult to come to terms with losing my sister, especially in this manner.
“I feel disappointed when I look at the document that was sent by the police who are investigating this case, because on that report they just wrote that my sister went to sleep and was found dead the next morning at a railway station with no signs of assault or a medical condition.
“The problem is that I saw the post-mortem results that revealed everything, yet the police kept on saying the body was fine. The justice system failed us because up until now there are still no arrests. We will not let go of this case until we find justice as a family because it really hurts.
“I am pleading with people to come forward with information that might help us get any lead as to what happened,” Thando said.
He said they buried his sister on November 29 in East London, but remained devastated because they had not heard anything from the police regarding the case.
Yesterday police spokesperson Colonel Noxolo Kweza said: “At this stage the police have opened an inquest docket. Unfortunately, I cannot comment further on this as all the information will be presented at the court of law to determine what happened.”
Pretoria News