PHUTI MOSOMANE
ANC Member of Parliament Sibusio Macdonald Kula has been arrested for allegedly stabbing his wife, Jennifer Motlhomi, to death in November last year.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe confirmed that a 34-year-old man was arrested in Klerksdorp on Friday morning and charged with murder.
The incident took place at their home in Kanana township, Orkney, in the North West Province.
Kula, a former ANC Youth League leader in the North West, is expected to make his first appearance in the Orkney Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
Kula was elected to Parliament after the 2019 general elections as a representative of the African National Congress in the North West.
Before her death, Motlhomi, 31, posted a message on her Facebook account saying she was a victim of gender-based violence (GBV) and feared for her life.
Her message spurred a flurry of responses from friends and colleagues, including calls for her to seek urgent help from authorities.
“GBV is real. If I woke up killed or any of my family members, please do not look far,” she wrote in one of her social posts which has since gone viral.
In another Facebook post, she posted: “It’s high time that I break my silence.”
One of her concerned friends, Thabo Mataboge, replied: “It’s better to get help now before it’s too late”.
She subsequently replied: “I am doing that in the current moment.”
Shortly after her murder, Kula took to social media and posted a message expressing shiock and sadness at her wife’s untimely death.
“I know there are people who hate me being out there, but for you to kill my wife. What will I say to my kids. How do I explain to my angels gore (that) where is their mom. Rest In Peace, my everything, Jennifer Motlhomi”.
ANC Chief Whip Pemmy Majodina said the governing party would first wait for Kula’s court appearance on Monday before making any media pronouncements or comments.
“We wish to send a stem warning to all perpetrators of these acts in our ranks that we will protect no abuser or murderer. We stand firmly with the family of Jennifer during this trying times,” provincial spokesperson Kutlwano Masibi said.
The ANC Youth League (ANCYL) said it was “saddened by the revelation that its former leader Sibusiso Kula has been arrested and charged with gruesome murder of his wife Jennifer Motlhomi. Mr Kula is currently detained in Orkney police station.”
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