Morongwa Mootane was murdered by Rudi Moloto, her childhood friend.
A frenzied drinking marathon has ended in tears following the mysterious death of a woman who was murdered by her childhood friend in Sekgopo.
The deceased, Morongwa Mootane and murder accused, Rudi Moloto have been known to be close allies whose association dates back to their childhood when they were schoolmates at Lebowaganyane Primary School.
The mysterious murder of Morongwa last Sunday has left the close-knit community of Ga-Malatjie in the Sekgopo area outside Modjadjiskloofreeling with shock.
Over the weekend, Morongwa and Moloto were seen together hitting the bottle but little did anyone suspected that the drinking spree will lead to murder.
Even though they were both unemployed, they were always seen drinking together and on the day of the murder
They had planned to attend a soul session shindig at one of their regular drinking joint but when Morongwa could not return home on Sunday night, her family panicked.
A frantic search operation was activated and decided to check her at Moloto’s place.
The shocking exposure of blood stains splattered on the curtains, pillow cases, on the floor and Moloto’s bloodied overalls was just the tip of an iceberg.
Morongwa’s phone and top were discovered in the bloodied bedroom at Maratholong village.
Modjadjiskloof police proceeded with interrogations until the suspect relented to pressure and eventually confessed to murder.
Before Moloto’s arrest, he took the police to a spot where he had buried Morongwa’s body in a shallow grave.
Morongwa’s aunt, Rachel Mootane said the incident has sent shockwaves in this neck of the woods because many people knew of the longevity of the friendship between the victim and self-confessed murderer.
Rachel said “The whole community is shell-shocked, unable to understand what could have pushed him to commit such a gruesome act. They Morongwa and this guy were always happy together and as family we never thought he could harm her.
They were always drinking and we have never heard of their squabbles. We never imagined their childhood friendship ending like this. It is a conundrum we are unable to solve. The family is hoping that since he has confessed to the murder, he will tell us what pushed him to kill her friend.”
While community members are still gathering pieces of the jigsaw puzzle, family friend, Prince Marutha said he knew the suspect to be an enigma.
He noted that: “The stories I heard about this man are bone-chilling. I understand that on the Monday after the commission of the crime, he was in court where he was facing a rape charge. These boys are notorious for binge drinking and the prevalence of these hard drugs is also contributing to rampant criminality and moral decay.”
Kgosi Matsorwane, chairman of Matsorwane Sekgopo Foundation, a social cohesion movement in the area, decried moral decay among the youth.
He said “We are observing hopelessly how the youth in this area is wallowing in alcoholism and drug abuse. While we cannot immediately associate this incident to excessive intake of alcohol and drugs, such suspicions are hard to ignore. The upsurge of hard drugs is of grave concern and we are appealing to the youth to refrain from such social ills.”
Meanwhile, Moloto appeared in the Bolobedu magistrate’s court on a charge of murder. He was remanded in police custody and will return to court on August 8 for bail application.