woman who was abducted in her car and shot dead in South Africa by her abusive ex-boyfriend, was laid to rest last Sunday. Boitumelo Thandi Magetse, 36 was buried in Tlokweng amid scenes of anguish and disbelief as her family struggled to come to terms with the death of their daughter. Her killer is a suspect in the P2 million Trojan Security robbery. Boitumelo was brutally murdered by her ex-boyfriend, Brutus Mokgalo an alleged armed robber who turned the gun on himself when the South African police tried to stop him. A suspect in the P2 million Trojan Security heist, Mokgalo committed the murder when he was on bail. He was due to appear before court sometime this month and his travel documents had been confiscated by the state. Mourners who joined the grieving family at the funeral spoke highly of Magetse who was killed on June 24. Speaker after speaker heaped praises on her as they described her as a sweet and loving mother, friend, colleague and daughter who worked hard to support her family. Various churches as well as members of the Ramotswa based Sangoma society from which she graduated in 2006 also attended the funeral. Magetse was buried in the family backyard according to the village tradition. When her coffin was lowered into the grave a sharp voice of a fellow Sangoma cut through the morning air as she joined other mourners in a crescendo of high pitched wails. Magetse’s mother was too emotional to comment after the burial but the murdered woman’s 18-year old daughter, Lorato spoke of how on the night of the incident Brutus ambushed her mother and kidnapped her. “That man was so abusive and my mom had long ended their relationship. At some point he was reported at the police station where he was reprimanded for harassing her. On the night of the incident he sneaked into the house and awaited my mother who had gone out. By the time she came back I was fast asleep and didn’t hear anything. When I left for work I didn’t think anything was amiss,” she said. Lorato said it was only when she heard that her mother was missing that she remembered that she noticed some of her mother’s underwear lying around in the yard and that the room was in an untidy state on the morning of the kidnapping. “I was later told that Brutus had called home and told my family that he was in South Africa with my mother and that he was going to kill her. The matter was reported to the police and knowing how abusive he was, we feared that he would kill her. KILLED: Boitumelo Magetse The police took too long to act on the matter and the following day our fears were confirmed when we were told that the South African police found the two corpses,” she said. Head of Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Assistant Superintendent Kenosi Tsaanang said after receiving the report that Magetse was missing, they contacted their South African counterparts who embarked on a patrol of the area and found the two. It is alleged that when the SA police found him, Brutus drew the firearm he was holding and shot himself in the head. “At the moment the South African police are conducting an inquest into the matter and until they close the case our investigations into the matter still remain open,” Detective Tsaanang said. Mokgalo was laid to rest on Saturday in Mochudi but his family members who attended the funeral on Sunday declined to comment on the incident.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Jul 2013 17:48:55 +0000