Protea Glen’s most hated woman, Lindeni Nonhlelelwa Matsebula, was arrested on Tuesday, 28 February 2024, more than a month after she went on the run over links to the brutal murder of five-year-old Keeya Mbulawa.
Keeya Mbulawa murder suspect due in court
In a statement, provincial spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Mavela Masondo confirmed police pounced on Matsebula after a resident caught sight of the suspect brazenly parading the streets of Protea Glen.
“The suspect was spotted by the community member while walking in the streets of Protea Glen and police were alerted. She was then arrested,” Lt-Col Masondo’s statement read.
It’s unclear what Matsebula was doing in Protea Glen, alas, for investigators, her arrest is a major breakthrough in Little Keeya’s murder investigation.
The woman disappeared immediately after Keeya’s fragile body was discovered stuffed in a pink travel suitcase, in mid-January 2024. The five-year-old clung to life for several days before she sighed her last breath in hospital.
Matsebula immediately became the prime suspect after the five-year-old’s mother informed authorities she’d made the gruesome discovery in her luggage.
According to Keeya’s mom, her suspicions turned toward her tenant of more than two years when her daughter, who was playing with friends earlier that day, was nowhere to be found.
“As one of the tenants within the same premises (Matsebula) was moving out, the mother thought of searching her bags. Upon which the child was discovered inside one of the travelling bags, with her hands and feet tied up and a cloth tucked inside her mouth,” Masondo added.
The woman, a Swati national, is expected to make her first appearance at the Protea Glen Magistrate’s Court, on Friday, 1 March 2024.