Mkona, her daughter
Latoya and her elder sister Chairmane were shot to death in the TV room
of their house in NY89, Guguletu, by Mkona’s jealous lover.
According
to them, the man, known only as Ladrino, and who is a refugee from the
DR Congo, had fathered Latoya, and that Mkona was six months pregnant
with their second child.
They described the man as one who showed violent tendencies at the slightest of irritations.
According
to Mkona’s aunt, the man, when he was once refused entry into the house
because of his squabbles, threw a petrol bomb through the bedroom
window.
She described how he got to the back of the house in
graphic detail, as the house is in the middle, as opposed to a corner
house.
”He climbed over the wall, crawled accross the roof to get to the back,” said Hilda Vuba.
She said the man’s demeanour gave him away as a soldier.
”We always suspected him to be a soldier.”
After the petrol bomb incident, he allegedly clashed with the former husband of the deceased.
”He beat him to the ground, smashed his car and wanted to set it alight.” said the aunt.
She said on the day of the shooting, he had arrived to find Petronella sitting with her family, watching television.
”A while later, Charmaine’s son retired to his bedoom, and so did litlle Latoya.”
The two argued, and Charmaine intervened.
”Instead,
he pumped four bullets to the chest and two to the head. Then, when the
child came out from the room on hearing the shots, he blasted her too.”
Afterwards he shot at the pregnant Petronella. Two bullets to the neck.
It
was a sad ending to a person who had made it her career to entertain
people. Petronella, her sister Lindie and Mpho Motheane, made up the
singing trio of the band Mpho and Vimba, and were a well known outfit
inside and outside the township.
She had even dedicated her time to teaching dance lessons at Prompt College.
Even
when she suffered a throat infection, which badly affected her voice,
music was the last thing she wanted to be away from, said those close
to her.
Petronella leaves behind her sister, brothers, her aunts and her father.
A memorial service in their honour was held at Ikhwezi centre yesterday, and their funeral takes place in NY89 on Saturday.