Mom strangled to death: Residents ’heard victim begging for mercy’
DIED: Pheliswa Sawutana, 32. Picture supplied
A mother-of-five has been found strangled with a shoelace and beaten to death in Samora Machel.
Pheliswa “Dolly” Sawutana, 32, was last seen by her cousin Siphenathi on Friday afternoon.
He says the next time he saw Pheliswa, her body was lying near a shop in Cossovo on Saturday morning.
“I saw her walking in the street on Friday around 1pm,” he says.
“We had a bit of a chat and then we went our separate ways.
“The following morning, a neighbour came and informed me that Dolly’s body is near a container and that we need to go there.
“I shut down for a few minutes and called my other cousin and told her that there was a man who wanted to tell her something.
“I was afraid of telling her the news.”
Siphenathi says they went to the scene of the crime and Pheliswa was wearing black jeans and a black top, and had visible wounds to her face.
“She had been strangled with a shoelace, and had laceration marks around the neck.
“Her lips were swollen.
“It was visible that she had been beaten up and it is clear that it was not just one person who killed her.”
He adds: “We watched as the police collected evidence.
“As a family we decided to go to the father of her children to find out what actually happened between the time I last saw her and when she was killed.”
He says according to the boyfriend, Pheliswa left his home around 10pm with two men she knew, and he also found out about her death the next day.
“I think the two men have the information on what happened to Dolly.
“The people around the scene said that they heard her say: ‘I don’t know what you are talking about, please don’t kill me, forgive me, please!’
“But none of them went out to save her from the killers,” says Siphenathi.
Dolly leaves behind her five children aged between one and 12 years old.
SAPS’ Joseph Swartbooi says: “Samora Machel Police responded to a complaint on Saturday at about 6.40am.
“Upon arrival, they found the body of a 32-year-old female who sustained injuries to the face.
“The victim was declared deceased on the scene.
“The unknown suspects fled the scene and are yet to be arrested.”