A young Mdantsane woman died at the weekend trying to stop a fight between a couple from NU1.
Inga Jilaji, 23, a mother of a two-year-old girl, was stabbed by a man who allegedly beat up his girlfriend at a popular hangout. Eye witnesses said Jilaji had intervened to try help the woman. However, the man followed her into a toilet and stabbed her in the face, heart and shoulder.
Her brother, Thembela Jilaji, told the Dispatch yesterday the family was distraught.
“She was a very honest person and if something was wrong she would not let it slide.
“Even with older people she would tell us when we had done something wrong. I am still shocked that she is dead, especially since she was stabbed like that by someone we all know. Someone who came to our home often,” he said.
The man turned himself in to the Mdantsane police station on Sunday after Jilaji’s death at Cecilia Makiwane Hospital in the early hours of the morning.
Mdantsane police are investigating a case of murder. The man was taken into custody. He is due to appear at the Mdantsane Magistrate’s Court today and cannot be named until then.
“I’m really heartbroken. This was my baby sister,” said Thembela. The girlfriend tried to offer her condolences to the grieving family, but she was apparently rejected by family members, who said she was the reason for Jilaji’s death.
Jilaji’s cousin Nomathamsanqa Jilaji said: “When he was threatening to beat her up, Inga stood her ground and confronted this man for his abusive behaviour towards his girlfriend.
“The whole family has been hurt by this. Inga’s daughter asked for her yesterday. It will take a long time for all of us to heal. We are handing it over to God now but we don’t want either of them in this yard.”
In other violence at the weekend, police reported that at least four people were stabbed to death, two of them hours apart in the same house.
At the time the house was holding a traditional ceremony.
In one of the incidents, a 30-year-old man was fatally stabbed in a quarrel with another man in Tikitiki village in Tsolo on Sunday afternoon.
Mthatha police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Mzukisi Fatyela said the two were arguing at around 3pm.
“The man drew out a knife and stabbed him,” he said.
The victim died after being rushed to hospital.
Fatyela said a man of 28 was arrested and charged with murder.
Four hours later, another man was stabbed to death in the same home in another argument with a different man.
“The victim, aged 33, died on the spot after being stabbed in the upper body,” added Fatyela.
A man of 29 was arrested.
Both are due to appear in the Tsolo Magistrate’s Court today.
In an unrelated incident, a youth of 22 was fatally stabbed in a quarrel with another patron at a tavern in Ngobozana village in Lusikisiki on Saturday night.
“He died instantly after being stabbed three times in his chest,” said Port St Johns police spokesman Captain Mduduzi Godlwana.
He said a youth of 20 was later apprehended with the help of villagers and charged with murder. “We commend the people of Ngobozana for their co-operation,” he added.
In another incident in Lusikisiki about three hours earlier, a 70-year-old man was stabbed to death in Sandlubule village while on his way from a traditional ceremony.
“We don’t know the motive of the attack at the moment,” Godlwana said.
Two men, aged 20 and 25, were subsequently arrested for the murder and are due to appear in the Lusikisiki Magistrate’s Court today. — mamelag@dispatch.co.za with additional reporting by Sikho Ntshobane
Mom killed trying to stop fight
Inga Jilaji, 23, a mother of a two-year-old girl, was stabbed by a man who allegedly beat up his girlfriend at a popular hangout. Eye witnesses said Jilaji had intervened to try help the woman. However, the man followed her into a toilet and stabbed her in the face, heart and shoulder.
Her brother, Thembela Jilaji, told the Dispatch yesterday the family was distraught.
“She was a very honest person and if something was wrong she would not let it slide.
“Even with older people she would tell us when we had done something wrong. I am still shocked that she is dead, especially since she was stabbed like that by someone we all know. Someone who came to our home often,” he said.
The man turned himself in to the Mdantsane police station on Sunday after Jilaji’s death at Cecilia Makiwane Hospital in the early hours of the morning.
Mdantsane police are investigating a case of murder. The man was taken into custody. He is due to appear at the Mdantsane Magistrate’s Court today and cannot be named until then.
“I’m really heartbroken. This was my baby sister,” said Thembela. The girlfriend tried to offer her condolences to the grieving family, but she was apparently rejected by family members, who said she was the reason for Jilaji’s death.
Jilaji’s cousin Nomathamsanqa Jilaji said: “When he was threatening to beat her up, Inga stood her ground and confronted this man for his abusive behaviour towards his girlfriend.
“The whole family has been hurt by this. Inga’s daughter asked for her yesterday. It will take a long time for all of us to heal. We are handing it over to God now but we don’t want either of them in this yard.”
In other violence at the weekend, police reported that at least four people were stabbed to death, two of them hours apart in the same house.
At the time the house was holding a traditional ceremony.
In one of the incidents, a 30-year-old man was fatally stabbed in a quarrel with another man in Tikitiki village in Tsolo on Sunday afternoon.
Mthatha police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Mzukisi Fatyela said the two were arguing at around 3pm.
“The man drew out a knife and stabbed him,” he said.
The victim died after being rushed to hospital.
Fatyela said a man of 28 was arrested and charged with murder.
Four hours later, another man was stabbed to death in the same home in another argument with a different man.
“The victim, aged 33, died on the spot after being stabbed in the upper body,” added Fatyela.
A man of 29 was arrested.
Both are due to appear in the Tsolo Magistrate’s Court today.
In an unrelated incident, a youth of 22 was fatally stabbed in a quarrel with another patron at a tavern in Ngobozana village in Lusikisiki on Saturday night.
“He died instantly after being stabbed three times in his chest,” said Port St Johns police spokesman Captain Mduduzi Godlwana.
He said a youth of 20 was later apprehended with the help of villagers and charged with murder. “We commend the people of Ngobozana for their co-operation,” he added.
In another incident in Lusikisiki about three hours earlier, a 70-year-old man was stabbed to death in Sandlubule village while on his way from a traditional ceremony.
“We don’t know the motive of the attack at the moment,” Godlwana said.
Two men, aged 20 and 25, were subsequently arrested for the murder and are due to appear in the Lusikisiki Magistrate’s Court today. — mamelag@dispatch.co.za with additional reporting by Sikho Ntshobane
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