A day later and we’ve yet to sober up from news of the heinous death of budding actress Thandeka Mdeliswa.
Thandeka Mdeliswa, the latest GBV victim
The 27-year-old was gunned down outside of her home in Evander, Mpumalanga, on Thursday 3 September. According to police spokesperson Brigadier Leonard Hlathi, the Ikani actress was shot as a result of “a commotion between her brother and two men.”
Mdeliswa was quickly airlifted to a hospital in eMalahleni and underwent further medical operations at Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria, before she succumbed to her wounds on Saturday, 5 September.
“The brutality which was inflicted on our daughter has left us deeply hurt. This is another incident of violence against women (Gender-Based Violence) which our country has to fight against. We believe that justice will be served,” the Mdeliswa family said in a statement.
Latest updates on hunt for suspects
According to Hlathi, investigators leading the homicide case know who the suspects involved in Mdeliswa’s death are. We also understand that an arrest attempt was made but the alleged killers slipped away.
A manhunt has since been launched. At this time, however, police have not issued a clear identikit of the people accused of killing the actress.
These men are armed and highly dangerous and anyone with information that may lead to the arrest of the suspect should call Captain Patrick Malepe at 082 065 1299.
Mpumalanga’s top-cop Lieutenant General Mondli Zuma has urged his police force to use all resources available to bring the suspects to book.
“We cannot allow such unexplainable actions to go unpunished hence we are making a clarion call to the public to assist in locating the killer. He has robbed the family and the country of a young life and talent respectively,” Zuma charged.
Mdeliswa played the role of Khanya in the SABC 1 soap-drama Ikani.