Soweto teacher's murder leaves many unanswered questions

The colleague of a Soweto teacher who went missing after taking an e-hailing vehicle cried as she told how their hopes of finding him alive were dashed when someone sent them a picture of his body dumped in a veld, with his pants pulled down.

Linda Makhubo, a teacher at Tetelo Secondary School in Protea North, Soweto, took an e-hailing taxi on Thursday last week at about 2pm.

No one knows what happened afterwards but Meadowlands residents found his body on Friday afternoon. "Linda was beaten [up]. When we first saw him, he was extremely swollen even in the mouth. Autopsy results say he was strangled to death but not with ropes or anything because it would've shown around his neck. We assume he was strangled by hand," said his friend and colleague Thandeka Nkambule.

Nkambule and Makhubo, 34, used to travel to school together. Last week Thursday, he sent messages to Nkambule and their principal, saying he would not be at school that day. While the style of writing in those messages was different to his usual one, they just brushed it off.

However, alarm bells began ringing when countless messages were not answered and calls ignored.

On Friday Nkambule went to Makhubo's Protea Glen home where she found the gates unlocked. She said she looked through the window, which was open, thinking he might have fallen and could have been hurt but there were no signs of him. 

According to Nkambule, Makhubo was conscious of his safety, and would close the windows even if he was quickly going to the shops nearby. She started to panic because the gate was unlocked and windows open yet he was not home.

She contacted the principal to find out if Makhubo had contacted her, but was told the only communication was on Thursday and not Friday.

Makhubo had said he had an appointment with lawyers, but did not say for what, said Nkambule. She said on Thursday, his WhatsApp status on Thursday showed a vehicle and a driveway captioned: "Vosloorus magistrate" which did not make sense to her. 

Nkambule contacted Makhubo's brother who managed to unlock the house. "His wallet and bank cards were there. His lip gloss, which he liked to use, was there. I looked for his card holder because if he didn't use his wallet, he would use his card holder, and it was there. It didn't make sense at all."

She added that Makhubo's house keys were found in the property.  

The family went to the bank to review recent transactions, and they discovered the only charge was for an e-hailing service at 2pm on Thursday. "We don't know where he was going or the registration of the [e-hailing] vehicle." 

A case was opened with the police and they went to look for him in hospitals and mortuaries.

On Friday they posted his picture on social media, asking people for help in locating him.

On Sunday evening, someone sent a picture to the brother asking if the body found in Meadowlands was not that of Makhubo — and their worst fears were confirmed.

Nkambule said many questions were swirling in their heads regarding his murder.

Sowetan contacted the e-hailing company to understand where he had requested the ride to but they had not responded at the time of publication.

Gauteng education MEC Matome Chiloane said the department was "deeply saddened by the tragedy". He said: "Educators are the architects of our children’s futures, and to have lost such an invaluable educator is a loss that ultimately alters the trajectory of our children’s futures."

Gauteng police said they would respond as soon as they get any further information.

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