Slain Phenyo's distraught mother wants answers
Mpho Mokwape - Pini Bothoko | Tuesday November 28, 2023 06:00
His actions have deeply hurt my entire family. Nonetheless, I implore him to disclose the whereabouts of my child's body parts]. Sadness, anguish, and frustration are what the family of the 'murdered' Phenyo Jakoba has been immersed in for the past few days since his discovery, as they try to come to terms with the untimely passing of their son in such a gruesome manner.
Phandora Jakoba, the late Phenyo's mum is now seeking justice for her allegedly murdered son. She believes that he was murdered by those who hold some sort of power for ritual purposes. She doesn't believe the current accused person known to the masses as 'Bakang' is capable of carrying such a heinous crime without powerful accomplices.
Bakang allegedly hails from Lerala in the Tswapong area. The visibly upset mother sat down in an emotional state telling The Monitor crew the family was still reeling in shock over what happened to their first child. Arriving at the family home, we are greeted warmly on Saturday afternoon, where members of the household took cover under a tree from the scorching heat. Clad in a black doek and black beads around her neck to signify the mourning period of her late son, the mother (as other family members excused themselves from the interview) narrates how she wants those who gruesomely 'murdered' her son to be caught and brought to justice.
''Kana Bakang ka ke ene mmelaelwa mo nakong ya gompieno, tiro ye a e dirileng e mo fetile. Ga ke bone a ka dira tiro a sa rumiwa. Bogologolo nne re tewa gotwe batho ba di business ba dirisa dirwe tsa batho mme ga o mo lebile o na le efe business'' [Bakang may be the only suspect in this gruesome act, but I find it hard to believe he is alone in it. Back then, these acts were often associated with business owners, but what enterprise could he possibly be running?], the mother asks.
The distraught mother expressed that as it stands, Bakang knows exactly who sent him and that he was disrupted from completing his mission of taking the allegedly found body parts to where he was supposed to. 'I believe taking my son's car from him was the reason he failed to complete his mission and that is why my son's body parts were found in his possession,' said Jakoba.
She said when they confiscated the car from Bakang, he hinted that he had a trip as he was supposed to collect large sums of money of which they did not understand why he said that. She told this publication that whoever sent Bakang was afraid to collect the parts but had hoped Bakang would deliver them instead.
Though she acknowledged that she did not see the alleged parts of her son, she believes they were indeed found as it was confirmed by a doctor at the hospital that some of her son's parts missing. 'Ba nne ba ile go tsaya moswi gone kwa a fitlhetsweng a latlhetswe teng ba bone gore ngwanake ga a na dirwe mme le bone ba bongaka ba feta ba rurifatsa seo (Those at the crime scene where he was found attested my son had missing body parts. This was confirmed by the medical expert),' she said.
The pained mother said it has been an emotionally taxing time for the family and that even the uncle could not hold back his tears at the cemetery telling hundreds of mourners 'Batswana ba setlhogo ba jele ngwana a bo ba mo ja le dirwe' (Batswana have been cruel to not only murder our child but to also mutilate him for his body parts) as the doctors confirmed. She said though Bakwena have shown their support to the family, they would want the government to take the lead in making sure that those who murdered her son are punished. She mentioned that as the family they are highly disappointed in the conduct of the police as they failed to act swiftly. She believes that had the police done their job the way they were expected to they might have possibly found her son alive. 'Mapodisi ba dirile phoso ya ntlha fela go fitlhela Bakang ka koloi ya ga Phenyo a bo ba mo tlogela. Nne ba dumela Bakang are o rekile koloi a bo ba bua gore Phenyo o santse a ile go ja madi, ke ipotsa gore a koloi e ka rekwa bosigo a bo maina a fetolwa gone bosigo. Molao ga o itseelwe mo diatleng mme rona re dumela nkabo re fitlhetse ngwana wa rona a tshela (The cops erred to let Bakang go in the first instance when he told them he bought Phenyo's car. I wonder if they found it usual for a transaction and change of ownership of a car to happen on the same night. The law is the law. My son could have been alive.)'
Taking a deep breath in anguish, Phenyo's mother wishes he'd tell the truth and pins her hope on the police to do their job now that they have a suspect. On rioting as a result of her son's murder and another missing person, a young woman, Jakoba said when they see the hurt, it empowers them to help. She believes Batswana were just trying to help seeing how hurt and distraught they were, especially that their tribal leader, Kgosi Kgari Sechele III had failed to show any support.
The mother expressed sadness that it seemed like Kgosi Kgari had no concern as to what was happening to them, something she believed triggered the community. She explained that on Friday the mother of Phenyo's children called her and informed her that he did not arrive home that night as they lived together in Thamaga. 'His girlfriend enquired if we had seen him because he had forgotten his phone which worried all of us as it was usual for him to do so,' she said. Phenyo's mum said she made some follow-ups and asked a few of his friends including those in the taxi industry until a lead came through in the afternoon that his car had been located. She added that she rushed to where it was spotted but by the time she got there, it was gone.
She was later told that the driver was chased by other taxi drivers who saw it and the driver escaped to the police station where she also rushed to. 'At that moment his girlfriend had already left Thamaga heading to us. We both got to the police station where we saw taxi drivers surrounding the car and the driver who identified himself as Bakang,' Jakoba said. She added that Bakang told them that he had bought the car from Phenyo which was surprising as she wondered how he bought a car that night and had the bluebook in his name that fast.
The mother mentioned that in her state of shock, Bakang asked about the whereabouts of her son while a police officer on duty distastefully joked that her son had gone to spend the money from the sale brushing the matter off that he would be back. She mentioned that Phenyo's cousin who was present at the station had noticed that the car was in a bad state with scratches and stains of blood in the boot of which the driver said he had cow hoofs and was from Mahetlwe. 'What raised red flags even more was the discovery of blue plate numbers which seemed to have been yanked off the car and personal ones installed. But the police left the driver without even accessing the car despite the many clues that something terrible happened. They had no interest at all in investigating the matter,' the mother said emotionally. She added that they had to go back to the station where the police called Bakang again. He did not change his story and they let him go again assuring them that Phenyo would return.
The mum said the next day on Saturday, Phenyo had not turned up which now forced them to go to the station again and demand to see the station commander for answers. 'The officers in charge that day assured us that we shall see the commissioner the next day. On Sunday we arrived there and narrated our issue to him and he called Bakang. I told the commander that she was not opposed to the story that Bakang bought the car but requested that they confiscate it in the meantime until her son is found,' Jakoba said.
She pointed out that after the commander's intervention, the car was taken in. It took a long time to locate Phenyo. After 13 days missing they heard that a body was found in Mosinki Lands. Phenyo's mum further said family members rushed to the scene only to be met with the sight of Phenyo's decomposing body. They were instructed to bury him the same day. 'We told them that we were not anticipating death and that we have nothing to bury him. We asked that they at least give us the night so we could run around and see what we could do. After the rushed funeral as the family still trying to come to terms with what happened, we heard that the community was angry and burning things including a place Bakang was renting,' she said. Jakoba said she cannot blame the community for reacting as they are hurting and hopes the law takes its course to bring justice to the family and the community who are also affected. Phenyo was the firstborn of four of Jakoba's children. He reportedly leaves behind two young children, a boy and a girl.