The woman allegedly murdered in Cape Town by world-renowned artist Zwelethu Mthethwa has been identified.
|||Cape Town - The woman allegedly murdered by world-renowned artist Zwelethu Mthethwa has been identified as 23-year-old Nokuphila Kumalo from Gugulethu.
According to CCTV footage, Mthethwa apparently stopped his car in Ravenscraig road, Woodstock, during the early hours of April 13. He is alleged to have beaten and kicked Kumalo, apparently a sex worker, to death.
The motive for the killing is unknown, said provincial police spokesman Colonel Tembinkosi Kinana.
He said Kumalo’s funeral had already taken place.
Ntokozo Yingwana, of the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Task Force (Sweat), said that, according to research, “sex workers are 12 to18 percent more likely to be murdered, compared to their non-sex worker counterparts”.
According to Yingwana, “with sex work criminalised, sex workers are sometimes reluctant to assist us, or to report to the police.
They are scared of implicating themselves”.
Mthethwa, who was arrested and charged with murder on May 5, was released on R100 000 bail the following day.
The case has been postponed to August 26.
Cape Argus