Residents of Khayelitsha’s New Culture informal settlement were left shocked after a man strangled his 20-year-old girlfriend to death during a domestic dispute. The incident happened on Saturday, 18 January 2025, in a one-room shack behind False Bay College.
A neighbour, who asked to remain anonymous, said the man killed his girlfriend in the presence of their two young children. “It’s heartbreaking because the children saw their mother’s lifeless body. They were in the shack when it happened,” said the neighbour.
Another resident described the man as controlling and jealous. “He didn’t even want her to own a phone. He once smashed her phone on the ground during an argument. Everyone here knew he was abusive, but we don’t know what pushed him to commit this terrible crime,” they added.
After the incident, residents saw the man carrying one child while the other walked beside him. Later, they saw him returning to the area in the back of a police van.
Police spokesperson Captain Frederick Van Wyk confirmed that the suspect, a 34-year-old man, reported himself to Lingelethu-West police in the early hours of 18 January 2025. He told officers that he had argued with his girlfriend, strangled her, and believed she was dead.
Officers accompanied the suspect to the shack he shared with the victim, where they found her body. Police are investigating the case as a domestic violence-related murder.