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Mystery surrounds the triple murder in a Gugulethu house early on
Wednesday where a pregnant woman, her two-year-old daughter and the
woman's sister were killed.
The 31-year-old Petronella Mkona, her
daughter Latoya and Petronella's sister Shemaine Mkona, 38, died after
being shot in the head at 2am in the lounge of their house in NY 89.
Petronella Mkona was several months pregnant.
Gugulethu police
arrested a 35-year-old Angolan man, believed to be Petronella's boyfriend,
at Nyanga Junction in Nyanga more than an hour after the
slayings.
Lindi Mkona, 29, Petronella's younger sister, said today:
"We don't know why Petronella and he argued.
| 'We just heard the
shots' | "None of the family members know what exactly they were
quarrelling about," she said. "We just heard the shots coming from the
lounge, my sisters and Latoya screaming for help, and then everything was
quiet.
"I ran to the lounge where I found them lying on the floor
with their heads covered in blood..."
The couple's argument just after 2am woke up Latoya and
Shemaine, who also entered the lounge.
The man allegedly produced a
firearm and shot each of them in the head, before fleeing on
foot.
Gugulethu police, who arrived on the scene within minutes,
gathered information about the alleged gunman and went in search of
him.
| 'This is a very sad day for
me' | Western Cape police Superintendent Billy Jones said
Gugulethu police and detectives launched a huge manhunt for the man.
The sisters' father, Stanford Mkona, 62, shaking his head, said:
"This is a very sad day for me. I've lost two daughters and my grandchild.
I only have one daughter (Lindi) left. It's not easy dealing with this
tragedy."
Relatives comforted him while others mopped away traces
of blood from the tiled floor in the lounge.
Senior police officers
arrived on the scene and took the traumatised relatives to the police
station in Gugulethu, where social workers were called in to conduct
trauma counselling.
normanj@incape.co.za
- This article was originally published on page
3 of Cape Argus on June 21, 2006
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