Girlfriend killer found hanging

A kombi driver who allegedly killed his girlfriend is said to have committed suicide near Esigodini Tollgate, just a few kilometres from his Mlomolihotho rural home in Mawabeni.

Melinkosi Moyo from Lobengula suburb, Bulawayo allegedly stabbed Prudence Ndlovu (24) to death in Nkulumane suburb on Sunday morning.

Moyo had been on the run since committing the crime.

His body was found on Tuesday near Esigodini Tollgate and police informed his family about his death yesterday morning.

A news crew visited Moyo's New Lobengula residence yesterday and his relatives confirmed that they had been informed that he had hanged himself from a tree.

His sister, Ms Sizoluhle Moyo said the incident has left the family shattered as they do not know where to turn to for answers.

Ms Moyo said other family members had gone to identify her brother's body.

She said her uncles last communicated with Moyo at about 2AM on Sunday while she last spoke to him at around 12AM and at no point did he reveal that he had committed a crime.

"What I know is that he was accusing Prudence of cheating on him. He constantly called me at about 11PM, revealing that he had found her hiding place in Nkulumane. He said I should call umakoti wethu (our daughter-in-law) although they were still boyfriend and girlfriend but she was not answering her phone. He called her and then phoned me back telling me to call her. That is when she answered the phone saying when Meli does not understand something he becomes harsh. She didn't even tell me that they were fighting," said Ms Moyo.

"This has left us with more questions than answers because we don't know him as a violent person. So, we want to know how he ended up being in Nkulumane where the crime was committed. He had big plans for his life so we really don't know why he would do such a thing. He had acquired a class one driver's licence and was set to relocate to South Africa before lockdown was imposed. So, we also would want to engage Prudence's family maybe they know better what really transpired because at no point did we hear that they were having relationship problems. We last saw her three days before she was killed."

Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube could not immediately confirm that Moyo's body had been recovered.

"What we know so far is that there is a body that was found in Esigodini but before the family identifies it as his we cannot confirm that it's his," said Insp Ncube.

A fellow tenant at Moyo's Lobengula West residence said he arrived home at 2AM Sunday and borrowed R200 from her.

She said he told her that Ndlovu would bring the money in the morning. "I didn't know him that much. I just knew that he was a driver always moving in cars. But on Sunday he arrived at about 2AM, took a bath and borrowed R200 which he said his girlfriend would bring later.

"He was so calm and we didn't suspect anything until armed police knocked at our doors at about 5AM looking for him. That is when we learnt that he had killed someone and we did not find any blood stains anywhere," said the tenant who preferred not to be named.