Ntomboxolo Xhobane moved out of her Khayelitsha home after her husband of 16 years, Simbongile, was found to be cheating on her with a neighbour.
She had most recently been living in Delft before Simbongile allegedly stabbed her to death on Sunday, according to her family. He was arrested at the scene.
“Like any other relationship, they had their issues. From my point of view I would not say that their relationship was toxic whatsoever, but as normal people they had disagreements now and then.
“I found out that Simbongile had an affair back in Khayelitsha, where they used to live, and that resulted in my aunt moving out of the house and living peacefully in Delft,” said Ntomboxolo’s niece, Busiswa Goniwe.
“On the day of the incident the husband came and asked for my aunt and I agreed because I felt like they needed to resolve whatever was happening between them. After just a few minutes I heard her screaming and crying,” said Goniwe.
She said Simbongile did not show remorse when he was arrested by the police.
“My boyfriend, who was present at the time of the incident, tried to stop him but he took another knife and stabbed her. That was when she lost her life. We immediately called the police and he was arrested. I think he meant what he was doing because when police came he did not seem to be apologetic or whatsoever. I don’t know what led him to do this and we are all traumatised by this,” she said.
Police spokesperson FC van Wyk said: “According to reports members of Delft SAPS attended to the complaint of a murder at the mentioned address and upon their arrival at the crime scene, they found a female lying on her stomach with stab wounds on her body. The 36-year-old deceased was declared dead by paramedics. A 51-year-old suspect of Khayelitsha was arrested on the scene.”
Provincial Social Development Department spokesperson Joshua Chigome said: “Gender-based violence (GBV) has become the ‘Shadow Pandemic’ due to its serious threat to the safety and well-being of especially women and children in the province.
“As we continue to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have also seen an increase in the number of gender-based violence cases.”
Cape Times