Elizabeth Mokolo Moselakgomo, known as “Tsontso” to her friends and family, is remembered by those closest to her as a woman whose presence held her family together.
Her uncle and family spokesperson, Lt-Col Andries Moraka Matlala, said the family had positively identified her body, bringing an agonising period of uncertainty to an end.
They are waiting for the South African Police Service to complete its post-mortem and other investigative processes before her body can be released to the family, after which funeral arrangements will be finalised.
The family are originally from Mpumalanga and expect the funeral to take place there.
For those who knew her, Tsontso was far more than the woman whose disappearance ended in tragedy. She was a mother, a family woman, a churchgoer and a choir member of the Zion Christian Church. She loved music and running.
Matlala said she was also someone who preferred being at home, except when she was out doing what she enjoyed most. She worked as the centre manager at Festival Mall and had a familiar routine of going out for a jog or participating in races before returning home.
That routine was also familiar to her eight-year-old daughter, who knew roughly when her mother would leave and when she was expected to return.
Matlala said it was the child who had realised something was wrong when her mother did not arrive home by about 6.30pm. She had alerted the family.
The girl has been receiving psychosocial support from professionals who became involved after her mother was reported missing. Matlala said the family was grateful for the support being provided to her.
The family were also supported by the SAPS psychosocial team when they went through the painful process of identifying Tsontso’s body.
Lt-Col Matlala said they had initially been too shattered to enter the area; the identification process had been an extremely difficult experience.
Despite the circumstances, he said, the family were being kept informed about the progress of the investigation and were leaving questions about what happened to Tsontso to the police.
Her death has come as authorities investigate a wider series of cases involving women whose bodies have been found in and around Kempton Park and the broader Ekurhuleni area.
Three other women’s bodies have been found in the area in the preceding weeks, while another woman’s body was subsequently discovered in Olifantsfontein.
The cases have prompted police to establish a multidisciplinary team to investigate the deaths and examine whether there are any links between them.
Police have cautioned that it is too early to conclude that the cases are connected or a serial killer is responsible.
Matlala said the question of whether the deaths were linked was therefore not for the family to answer; the investigation remained in the hands of the police.
For Tsontso’s family, however, the investigation cannot capture the full measure of the person they have lost.
The uncle described her as “the glue of the family”, saying her absence at family gatherings was being acutely felt.
He recalled how, when relatives asked where she was, she would eventually appear from around the corner with a smile and say: “I’m here.”
It is that image of Tsontso, as a mother, sister, church member, runner and familiar presence in the lives of those she loved, that her family want to hold on to as they prepare to bring her body home to Mpumalanga.