The ”sick” people responsible for the death of 21-year-old Leigh Matthews must be tracked down, and nobody can be silent, said African National Congress spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama on Thursday.
”It is very sad and distressing, and it is unbelievable that people can do something like this,” said Ngonyama.
He was reacting to the news that the student, who was held to ransom on July 9, was found dead by a grass cutter in the veld in Walkerville Manor on Wednesday afternoon, near Grasmere, an area notorious for hijackings.
The area was cordoned off and forensic experts were combing the scene for clues, while friends and relatives formed a protective barrier around her grieving family.
”We must find a way to deal with this and we must be committed to weeding out these elements. We can’t unite as a nation if these sick elements are in our midst,” said Ngonyama who had issued a statement earlier this week to her captors to release her.
”Leigh Matthews was a flower, a young person, the lifeblood of the nation and she was abducted for no apparent reason and [not returned] even though her parents gave the money.”
Ngonyama said that although kidnappings and abductions were familiar to people directly involved in the struggle against apartheid, ”Whether it was caused by oppression or because of crime, the effects are the same.”
He said the party would wait until the family had ”come down” from grieving before contacting them. – Sapa