A Site C family is heartbroken after their granddaughter mysteriously died in Taiwan informal settlement on Saturday 25 March.
Thimna Kuze (13) was found dead in a shack in Taiwan with blood in her nose, mouth and private parts.
According to the family, she left her home at C section on Friday evening 24 March with her friends for a sleepover in Taiwan.
A distraught grandmother Nomhle Kuze said she initially refused to grant Thimna a sleepover but gave in after her friends endlessly begged her.
Explaining how Thimna left the house, Nomhle said her friends arrived at the house to request permission for Thimna to go with them.
She said she refused, citing that Thimna never slept at anyone’s house.
However, the group begged her until she agreed.
“Three children (same age group as Thimna) arrived here before 22:00 and asked to go with Thimna to sleep over in Taiwan,” she said.
She added that the children stated that their parents were in the Eastern Cape.
“Initially, I refused, but because I know her friends -they used to come and play with her sometimes – I gave in,” said Nomhle, adding that two of the friends are twins and the other one is just a friend.
Nomhle said at about 08:00 on Saturday 25 March, she asked Thimna’s elder brother to phone her to come back for the laundry.
However, she said the brother decided to phone one of the friends instead of calling Thimna directly.
She said the friend did not answer the phone.
“Because I was starting to panic, I informed Thimna’s mother (Nokuthula) about her daughter’s whereabouts. Nokuthula is a friend of one of the children’s mothers. I told her to ask her friend about Thimna. A few seconds later, Nokuthula phoned me back and informed me that her friend told her that Thimna is still there,” explained Nomhle.
She said a few minutes later, one of her neighbours and an unknown man arrived at the house to tell her that Thimna was no more.
“At that time, Nokuthula was already here. She was busy with her laundry. As soon as we heard the news, we screamed. Immediately, my neighbours came in. Only to find out there were three people from Taiwan (two women and a man). They first informed my neighbours about the incident before they came to us. While my neighbour was coming in with this unknown man, the rest were waiting in one of my neighbour’s houses with other people,” she explained, adding that as soon as they screamed they came in.
Nomhle said they went to where Thimna’s body was. She said they found the body in a room on the bed, with her back and one of her hands on the chest.
She said she had blood on her nose, swelling lower lip with blood also and blood on her “private parts.”
According to other children that were with Thimna, they all slept in the dining room with their uncle.
They said before they slept the uncle bought alcohol and gave them to drink.
“One of the children said when she woke up to pee at night she noticed she had nothing on her lower body even though she was sleeping wearing underwear and tights. Two of her friends had their tights on their knees,” she said, adding that Thimna was wearing jeans but when we thoroughly checked her underwear was on her knees under the jeans.
She said the uncle was related to the twins.
Nomhle said according to the children, they thought Thimna was sleeping but they noticed her body was cold.
They lit a heater and covered her with a blanket to warm her.
She said they noticed in the morning that she was dead.
Nomhle claimed that the children and their uncle removed Thimna’s body from the dining room to a bedroom.
“The uncle denied that he gave the children alcohol and hubbly-bubbly,” she said.
The uncle claimed he drank with his friend, not the children.
He also denied touching the kids, claiming he slept on the couch.
“We asked ourselves why he slept on the couch when there was a room,” she said.
Nomhle said they were shocked by the turn of events, adding that instead of alerting people around the house when he discovered that Thimna was dead, the man phoned his friend that stayed a few houses away.
Thimna’s elder brother Ntsika (16) said he is distressed by his sister’s death. He urged the law to take its course against the perpetrator.
“She was a humble person. She liked to laugh and dance,” said Ntsika.
Khayelitsha Police Station commander Brig Mononeleli Magobiyane said an inquest docket has been opened.
“We need to find out what caused her death because there are no physical injuries in her body. Also, there were allegations that they were smoking drugs. And the other two children were taken to the social workers for examination but we are still waiting because they said they need another doctor to examine them for a second opinion,” he said.
Magobiyane said the uncle was on the run.
“As soon as we get the whole information the docket can be changed,” he emphasised.
Thimna’s body is leaving the province on Thursday 6 April.
She will be buried on Saturday 8 April in Mt Fletcher, Eastern Cape.