Follow Us
Like Us
About Nokuphila Kumalo
Nokuphila Kumalo (1990 - 2013)
Brief overview:
Nokuphila (23), a sex worker, and a mother of one child, was kicked and beaten to death on Ravenscraig Road, Woodstock, Cape Town, where she worked, on 13th April 2013. She died of a heart attack after suffering severe injury to her liver during the brutal assault. Her body lay in the road for an hour after before a security guard, who was stationed at a nearby building, found her.
Very little is known about Nokuphila, and we are unable to pay tribute to her with a profile photograph, because the only known image of her is the police photo of her lifeless body. To the world, Nokuphila was just another 'sex worker'. Yet a lot is known about her murderer, well-known artist and photographer, Zwelethu Mthethwa (53 at the time).
CCTV footage captured him repeatedly kicking Nokuphila, and stomping on her head, including repetitive, forceful kicking to the middle of her body, as well as slaps and fist blows to her head.
Mthethwa did not testify in court, and claimed he had no recollection of the incident and maintained his innocence. However, the CCTV footage, which was found to be admissible, showed Mthethwa’s black Porsche Carrera 911, which is the only one of its kind in Cape Town, stopping in Ravenscraig Road at 02h4. It shows him getting out of his car and crossing the road to where Nokuphila was standing.
Brief Biography:
- Other Victims/Family
- Funeral/Memorial
- The Street/Suburb
- The Region (Land disputes, other incidents etc.)
Attack Details:
- Date and time of attack
- Weapons
- Items Stolen
- Investigative officer/SAPS Case No:
- Torture, Gratuitous violence
- Indications of Hate Crime? Threats etc.
Perpetrator details:
- Number and Descriptions
- Arrests
- Name/s and age/s of Perpetrator/s
- Country of origin of Perpetrator/s
- Trial/Conviction
- Mthethwa was found guilty of her murder on 16th March 2017. After many court hearings during the trial, he was finally sentence on 7th June 2017 to 18 years imprisonment for the murder. "The accused's standing as an international acclaimed artist does not earn him a special sentence," said Western Cape High Court Judge Patricia Goliath. "In her judgment, Goliath said Mthethwa’s silence had given credibility to the case against him."
Additional Biographical Information:
Links to Media articles:
view all
Nokuphila Kumalo's Timeline
| 1990 |
1990
|
||
| 2013 |
April 13, 2013
Age 23
|
Ravenscraig Road, Cape Town, Cape Town, WC, 7925, South Africa
|