Limpopo MEC for Social Development, Nkakareng Rakgoale, has sent her condolences to the family of the mother and daughter, who were killed along the R37 road outside Polokwane.
According to the police, businesswoman Lizette Deacon, 55, and her 70-year-old mother, Hettie, were reported missing from their home in Welgelegen, next to Cycad, on Thursday.
Deacon is said to have been the owner of Ocean Basket franchises in the city.
“This latest attack on women comes on the very day we were discussing GBV as government during the virtual imbizo on gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF),” Rakgoale said on Friday.
The police have since launched a manhunt for the suspects.
It is alleged that the victims’ neighbour went to visit the Deacons just after 6pm on Thursday, police spokesperson, Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo, said.
However, the neighbour was shocked when he found blood traces in the house and the occupants missing.
“The police were called and a search operation was immediately launched,” Mojapelo said.
The bodies were found with several stab wounds, tied inside their motor vehicle, which was abandoned along the R37 road next to Kushcke off-ramp.
Mojapelo said the motive for the killings is still unknown at this stage. But robbery cannot be ruled out, the police said.
“The violent manner in which the pair was attacked tells us that there is more that still needs to be done in protecting the rights of the vulnerable people of our society,” said Rakgoale.
She said her office has dispatched social workers to the family and two restaurants owned by Deacon to provide psychosocial support.
“We are confident that the police will arrest these senseless killers, who have a total disregard for the law,” Rakgoale said.
This week, the Limpopo COVID-19 Command Council urged law enforcement and social workers to play their part in helping to prevent the GBV in the province. This comes after a recent spate of killings of young women, reportedly by their lovers.
Two cases of murder and house robbery have been opened. Anyone with information is requested to contact Colonel Linkie Mathebula on 064 756 8218 or Crime Stop on 086 001 0111.
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