There were strong signs that a potentially violent incident was brewing in the hours before Rhodes University student Amanda Tweyi was shot in the residence room of a fellow student on Saturday 26 April.
There were strong signs that a potentially violent incident was brewing in the hours before Rhodes University student Amanda Tweyi was shot in the residence room of a fellow student on Saturday 26 April.
Tweyi's body was found in the Cullen Bowles residence room of fellow student Siyanda Mati. She was killed allegedly by her child's father, Nkosinathi Nqabisa, 34.
Bronwyn Slater, a sub-warden at Rosa Parks House where Tweyi lived, said several students told her Nqabisa had approached them in the area between Rosa Parks, Cullen Bowles and Gold Fields Residences between 10pm on Friday 25 April and 4am on Saturday.
Buhle Mazosiwe, a sub-warden at the residence, said on Friday evening she returned from her duty as a driver for Get Home Safe and was approached by Nqabisa.
“The guy approached me and asked if I knew Amanda and where she was. I said I was from her residence and I knew her, but didn’t know her whereabouts,” said Mazosiwe.
A post-graduate student who wants to remain anonymous said Nqabisa approached her outside Gold Fields Residence in the early hours of Saturday morning.
“He asked if I knew some person and I couldn’t make out what he was saying. He seemed frustrated. He shook me while he asked about her whereabouts and then I just left,” she said.
Nqabisa was signed into Rosa Parks Residence late on Friday morning. He remained there for the day while Tweyi was out at lectures, said Slater. He was not signed out of the residence, but it was believed that he left Rosa Parks House around 10pm.
The sub-wardens always do a check of the sign-in book around midnight, when the male visitors are supposed to leave the residence. They noticed Nqabisa had not been signed out of the residence and so they checked Tweyi’s room.
The room was unlocked and empty.
“He tried to call her while she was in the dining hall having supper, wondering where she was. It seems like she was trying to get rid of him because she knew he was crazy jealous,” Slater said.
Johan Botha, warden of Cullen Bowles residence, said the doors to the residence can be opened only by a resident scanning their finger over a sensor at one of the entrances. The residence has multiple entrances.
Meanwhile, close to 200 Rhodes students have been placed on a special counselling programme following the shooting.
A total of 75 male students from Cullen Bowles and 104 female students from Rosa Parks were immediately subjected to a group counselling session on Saturday. Director of Marketing and Communications at Rhodes, Lebogang Hashatse said, "Students were invited to remain behind and voluntarily receive either group or individual counselling."
Hashatse said students have continued to access the counselling centre throughout the week.
"The students are not only from Cullen Bowles and Rosa Parks. Any Rhodes student can receive counselling," he said.
Meanwhile, Bambihlombe Tweyi, 2, who lost both parents in the incident, will officially be in the care of his grandparents Debra and Tali Tweyi.
Debra told Groott's Mail on Thursday 1 May that Bambihlombe had been living with his grandparents since Amanda enrolled for a BSc in 2013.
Debra and Tali's two daughters, Maria and Talina, are both studying.
Bambihlombe receives a monthly child support grant of R300.
Debra extended gratitude to Rhodes University for a "well organised and dignified service for my child". She also acknowledged the support of people from her village and church.
Amanda will be laid to rest on 10 May at Ethembeni village near King William's Town.
In 2003, Rhodes was rocked by the murder of a second-year, journalism student, Tumi Manyandioane, 22. Media reports said she was stabbed to death by her former boyfriend, Joseph Makuvaro, in her university residence room.
While Mati, who is at the centre of the murder-suicide, at first said he would attend Tweyi's memorial service this week, he later changed his mind.
Speaking exclusively to Grocott’s Mail on Tuesday, Mati said he planned to speak out, for the first time, about the incident.
Sources close to Mati said he had been granted leave of absence to receive counselling until 8 May.
Students lit candles and placed pictures and flowers at an improvised memorial site at Rosa Parks residence this week.
Police spokesperson Captain Mali Govender said late on Thursday 1 May that there had been no further developments in the case. She said police had opened a murder and an inquest docket.
"The murder docket is just a formality because the man is dead," she said.
