Burial above ground: the Vlakfontein murders
Explicit content warning
07/15/21 • 28 min
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.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.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/mabaso-details-how-he-raped-killed-khoza-family-in-vlakfontein/
https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/south-africa/2019-06-10-parents-of-vlakfontein-mass-murder-victims-fume-over-khupes-case/
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.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.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/mabaso-details-how-he-raped-killed-khoza-family-in-vlakfontein/
https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/south-africa/2019-06-10-parents-of-vlakfontein-mass-murder-victims-fume-over-khupes-case/
Previous Episode
Death en suite: Susan Rohde
It’s 2016, July 24th, and the receptionist on duty of Spier Hotel has just taken a call from a guest in need of a maintenance man. Spier is a four-star hotel, positioned on one of the country’s oldest wine farms. Maintenance work Desmond Daniels responds to the call, and at this moment, of the lock turning, two versions of the story splinter off. What maintenance man Desmond and husband Jason describe on the other side of the bathroom door was either a tragic suicide by a distraught and heartbroken woman, or the deliberate murder and cover up by her scheming husband.
Sources:
· https://www.news24.com/news24/SouthAfrica/News/jason-rohde-arrested-for-wifes-murder-20160823
· https://www.magzter.com/stories/Entertainment/YOU-South-Africa/Murdered-Mom-Remembered
· https://www.iol.co.za/news/chilling-details-of-rohde-murder-2061590
· https://www.iol.co.za/capeargus/news/sotheby-bosss-wifes-death-a-suicide-pathologist-2060984
· http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZAWCHC/2018/146.html
Get bonus content on PatreonHosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Next Episode
Devil in the ‘dorp: “Samurai killer” Morne Harmse
It’s Monday morning August 18th, 2008 at a school in Krugersdorp. The bell has just rung for morning assembly so all the students are making their way towards the hall in groups, chatting among themselves.
Two 16-yo boys Jacques Pretorius and his friend JC are walking in together when the unthinkable happens. They didn’t have any real warning. Some kids in the vicinity said they heard someone say “Want to see something cool?” just before that someone swung a sword at Jacques, catching him at the neck. He fell to the ground, while all around them kids began to scream and run.
This is a story of a horrific school attack, but also sensationalist media and South Africa’s satanic panic.
Sources:
· Nic Diederichs Technical High School slashing - Wikipedia
· Harmse 'liked to sharpen sword': South Africa: News: News24
· 'Want to see something cool?': South Africa: News: News24
· The Times - The devil didn’t make him do it
· ‘Satanist’ kills boy at school | Witness
· Sword attack was 'carefully planned'
· Satanic link to school murder
· ‘Satanist’ kills boy at school | Witness
· 22 August 2008. South Africa. Jacques Pretorius, who was killed by a... News Photo - Getty Images
· Today, 10 years ago, a boy walked into his school with a samurai sword ... | Krugersdorp News
· Harmse 'wanted to be noticed'
· What now, sir? https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/now-what-sir-412851#.UYUQNaJTCz4
· https://mg.co.za/article/2009-09-10-sword-killer-harmse-sentenced-to-20-years-in-jail/
· https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/the-mercury-south-africa/20090911/282415575321533
· https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2009-04-15-i-swung-sword/
· https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/sword-boy-tells-of-ghost-414082
Get bonus content on PatreonHosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
If you like this episode you’ll love
Episode Comments
Generate a badge
Get a badge for your website that links back to this episode
<a href="https://goodpods.com/podcasts/it-happened-here-181940/burial-above-ground-the-vlakfontein-murders-16076322"> <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/goodpods-images-bucket/badges/generic-badge-1.svg" alt="listen to burial above ground: the vlakfontein murders on goodpods" style="width: 225px" /> </a>
Copy