YOUNG mum Anele Zulu still has flashbacks of the day her daughter died.
And it's the way one-year-old Sinakhokonke Mazibuko died that haunts Anele.
The 18-year-old from eMpumelelweni Village in Nquthu, KZN, said she watched a relative bash her daughter against the wall before he dropped her on the floor.
“I begged to stop hurting my baby. He looked me in the eye, but didn’t say anything. Instead, he took a frying pan, dropped my child on the floor and banged her until I saw her take her last breath,” said Anele.
The grade 12 pupil said the nightmare started on Tuesday, 14 March when the relative returned in the evening.
She was with her gogo and her daughter.
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"He asked for keys and we were puzzled because all the keys were on the door. He didn't say what keys he wanted. He then started shouting that he wanted the keys.
"We pointed to the keys on the door and he assaulted my grandmother, asking what we were doing to him. We then ran from the living room to the bedroom,” she said.
Anele said she quickly locked the three of them in the bedroom, but the relative broke the door and got into the room.
“He started beating gogo. I took my baby and covered her and he tried to beat me, but I was able to duck. That's when he pulled my daughter and took her to the kitchen.
"I followed him begging him not to hurt my child,” said Anele.
But the relative allegedly banged the little girl's head against the wall several times before dropping her on the floor.
"My baby was still breathing. I saw she was breathing. He took a frying pan to finish her off. I screamed and one of our neighbours tried to wrestle with him. He told me to take my grandmother out because he was going to kill all of us,” said Anele.
The neighbour then left the relative with the girl's body.
“Everyone was scared to go inside. He started fighting us from 7pm and we managed to escape around midnight,” she said.
Anele said they couldn’t see what was going on in the house as the relative broke all the lightbulbs in the house.
“When the cops arrived, they found him with my daughter’s head tied around his waist with a rope. Her stomach was cut open and intestines were hanging on the roof,” said Anele.
She said she suspects the relative was high on drugs as he smokes whoonga and other drugs.
“I wish he rots in jail. What I saw on that day is an image I will live with for the rest of my life. I don’t wish tis pain on my worst enemy,” said Anele.
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KZN Social Development MEC Nonhlahla Khoza said: “This is one of the most horrifying incidents in our province and it’s even hard to explain what could have led to such behaviour.
“This caused a lot of pain for many of us. It is very hard to believe that an old person in a good state of mind can kill a child, let alone in such a way."
KZN police spokeswoman Lieutenant-Colonel Nqobile Gwala said the suspect (33) was arrested on Wednesday, 15 March.
“Nquthu police are investigating charges of murder and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm,” said Gwala.
