Vlakfontein is the kind of place where you know your neighbours by name and by sight. But in October of 2018, no one had seen the Khoza family from 4192 Ibis Crescent for a few days. 

There are quite a few people who call this property home. Mbali Khoza is the homeowner, and she lives here with a long-term boyfriend Fita Khupe and her sister Dudu Khoza. Dudu’s kids – Nomfundo, Luyanda and Sbongakonke – also lived there, and Nomfundo herself had two kids, Karabo and Nkanyiso. 

It is very common in South Africa for multiple generations of the same family to share a home. It is also common, if you have the space, to rent out your back rooms for some extra income. Andre Cossa is one such tenant. He didn’t have to go through the main house to access his room, but all the same he was getting pretty concerned about his landlords by the end of the month, not least of all because of the increasingly alarming odour emanating from behind the closed doors and windows of the main house and another back room. 

That’s how this incredibly infuriating case starts, before meandering through false identities, dodgy politicians, journalists overstepping the mark, incompetent prosecutions… and the ending will leave you both confused and frustrated. 

Sources

-        https://www.news24.com/drum/News/family-of-the-seven-people-found-dead-in-a-vlakfontein-house-speak-out-20190217

-        (https://www.news24.com/news24/SouthAfrica/News/vlakfontein-residents-up-in-arms-after-man-accused-of-seven-murders-walks-free-20190607)

-        https://www.enca.com/news/gruesome-details-vlakfontein-murder-revealed-court

-        https://www.enca.com/news/gruesome-details-vlakfontein-murder-revealed-court

-        https://www.enca.com/news/vlakfontein-family-speaks-out

-        https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/gauteng/vlakfontein-khupe-forced-me-to-rape-and-kill-the-khozas-says-mabaso-18310112 https://lowvelder.co.za/lnn/532843/vlakfontein-murder-accused-ernest-mabaso-commits-suicide

-        https://www.npa.gov.za/sites/default/files/media-releases/NPA%20Withdraws%20Charges%20Against%20Fita%20Khupe.pdf

-        https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/mabaso-details-how-he-raped-killed-khoza-family-in-vlakfontein/

-        https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-11-06-grieving-dad-wont-forgive-vlakfontein-killers/

-        https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-12-05-dates-of-vlakfontein-murders-disputed-in-court-by-accuseds-lawyer/

-        https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/south-africa/2019-06-10-parents-of-vlakfontein-mass-murder-victims-fume-over-khupes-case/

-        https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/south-africa/2019-06-10-parents-of-vlakfontein-mass-murder-victims-fume-over-khupes-case/

-        https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-12-06-vlakfontein-murder-suspect-originally-treated-as-a-victim-court-hears/

-        https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2018-12-06-vlakfontein-murder-suspect-originally-treated-as-a-victim-court-hears/

-        https://youtu.be/A_zjq_wDauQ

-        https://youtu.be/rIw0GFvgBJ4

https://youtu.be/xVPaAeenLno

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