Cape Town – The mother of 21-year-old Anelisa Dulaze, whose body was found three months after her disappearance, said she finally has closure. "All I wanted was to find my daughter," Vathiswa Dulaze said outside the Khayelitsha Magistrate's Court where the 23-year-old suspect, Monwabisi Mbombo, made his first appearance on Tuesday. Vathiswa Dulaze outside the Khayelitsha Magistrate's Court.
"I am feeling better now. No matter the situation, as long as I have found her," Dulaze said. Anelisa disappeared while celebrating her 21st birthday at a tavern in Town Two, Khayelitsha, on January 31. Her body was discovered buried under an incomplete building in Makhaza on Monday after the suspect pointed out the scene before concrete was to be laid as a foundation for a new block of flats.
Anelisa knew suspect 'very well' According to the state, her hands were bound and it was unclear whether she had been raped. The suspect is a magician and had gone to primary school with her daughter, Vathiswa said, adding that Anelisa and her friends knew him "very well". "Other than that, I don't know him. [I came here today] because I just wanted to see him," she said.
Anelisa was a drama student who had been planning to return to Wits University to complete her studies after financial difficulties forced her to drop out. Vathiswa said the months since her daughter's disappearance had been "very difficult and long", but she was encouraged by the support of locals, who filled the public gallery at the court on Tuesday.