Kholeka Nomgxaza with her brother, Steve Balele, in front of a neighbour’s home in Francolin Close, Westlake. Photograph: Supplied.
Westlake is still in shock over the death of a man who was found with his throat slit in his backyard shack.
Steve Balele is described by his family as a polite and quiet person, who enjoyed making jokes. He was only one month shy of his 43rd birthday when his neighbour, Mbuyiseli Makonjwa, discovered his body, on Sunday July 9, kneeling at his bedside with his head flat on the bed, covered by a blanket and his blood drenching the bed and wall of his Francolin Close shack.
According to his family and neighbour, Mr Balele is believed to have been drinking the night before at a local tavern with some friends, who left him with an unknown woman.
He was last seen at 10pm when he was brought home by his uncle, Marks Mkhuma. This was during load shedding, Mbuyiseli Makonjwa recalls as he had seen them struggling to unlock the front door and had come with a lamp to assist.
Once the door was unlocked, the uncle went home, but Mr Makonjwa, whose home is among a cluster of shacks in the backyard of the Francolin Close property, believes Mr Balele left his home once more because he only heard his neighbour again after 12.30am, at which time he was talking with an unknown Zulu man.
"I don't eat, I don't sleep," said Kholeka Nomgxaza, Mr Balele’s sister, of the many thoughts running through her mind about his final moments.
Ms Nomgxaza, who lives in one of the other shacks in the backyard, said she had no idea who would have wanted to harm her brother.
“Everybody in the community is shocked. They don't understand how it happened. The TV was there; nobody took it. Nothing else was taken because he has nothing. Killing someone who doesn’t have anything doesn't make sense,” Ms Nomgxaza said.
“What if that person is here with us? We don't know how dangerous they could be. I’m scared now and don't know who to trust. The problem is we don't know. Maybe the person is here hugging us, crying with us, but they know what they did.”
Ms Nomgxaza said that most of all she would miss her brother's smile and his presence when she returned from work.
Mr Balele is survived by her, a younger brother and their father. The family plan to go to the Eastern Cape to bury him on Saturday, July 29.
Kirstenhof police spokeswoman Sergeant Deidre Solomon said police were still investigating the murder and anyone with information should call 021 702 8900.