Impassioned plea to president from slain student’s young sister

A child who witnessed the brutal slaying of her sister, Wits University first-year student Asithandile Kwasa Zozo, has pleaded with President Cyril Ramaphosa to ensure the killer stays in jail.

“My request to the president and the judge is that my mom and dad and all of us at home want the man who did this to remain in prison for his whole life and die there,” said Odwa Zozo, 11. “They must not let him out. My mom and dad are hurting.

“We are scared that he will kill us little girls. He must be locked up for life,” she said at Zozo’s funeral.

“I am scared of him.”

The funeral  was attended by hundreds of people, in defiance of the lockdown limit of 50 mourners.

Zozo’s parents, Ntombekhaya Lugalo-Zozo and Mzulungile Zozo, spoke with the Dispatch at their Bholotwa village home in Dutywa on Saturday after the sombre ceremony.

Zozo was assaulted, choked, poisoned and stabbed in full view of a number of people, including Odwa, who is in Grade 5, in Dutywa on August 17.

Her parents have accepted that she is gone forever.

“The only thing I want now is justice for Kwasa,” Lugalo-Zoza said.

“Kwasa did not deserve to die such a horrible death.

“Her untimely passing has left us with scars that may never heal. But her life gave us memories that no one can take away. The courts must play their part in the war against gender-based violence [GBV].”

Zozo’s father said: ''Nelson Mandela got a life sentence, but spent 27 years in jail for fighting for freedom. The day the killer gets 100 years in jail, I will say indeed for Kwasa justice has prevailed.''

She was doing a BSc in biochemistry. She would have turned 20 on October 3.

She matriculated at Mida Christian School in Dutywa in 2019. This is the same school Miss Universe Zozibini Tunzi attended.

A suspect, Viwe Rulumeni, 22, will appear again in court on Wednesday.

Rulumeni was doing matric in 2019 at JS Sikhenjana High School in Dutywa, where Zozo’s mother is a teacher.

Zozo clan leader Dumani Zozo described the killing as a brutal act of cowardice.

“It’s shocking that during Women’s Month people can be so cruel and take somebody’s life very easily, without any kind of shame. Kwasa was a rising star within the family. We hope justice will be served for her”

Mbhashe mayor Samkelo Janda said gender-based violence should not only be highlighted in Women’s Month, but every day.

“This is a pandemic, not an event, and it should be robustly dealt with as such.

“These incidents are rife in rural areas and the situation is made worse by those who want to solve them within family structures instead of reporting them to the police.”

He said men were not doing enough in the fight against GBV.

“Men must up their game if they want to put a stop to GBV, restore the dignity of women and redeem the integrity of men. The government must robustly support moral regeneration structures in our society.”