Eric Marakalala, arrested for pouring petrol and setting alight his girlfriend Lindiwe Zitha – sister to former Banyana Banyana player Kabo Zitha – has died in a police holding cell in Mamelodi on Tuesday.
The incident happened in Mamelodi on May 31 and the 55-year-old Marakalala was arrested and charged with attempted murder at the Mamelodi Magistrate Court on June 1 and remanded in custody.
On Wednesday, police confirmed Marakalala died in police custody and they have launched an investigation.
“The suspect that was arrested for attempted murder after he allegedly burned his girlfriend died in police cells on the afternoon of Tuesday, 06 June 2023. The suspect complained about having pain and the police immediately called an ambulance. The paramedics declared him dead in the holding cells,” said Gauteng police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Mavela Masondo.
“Police have opened an inquest docket and a postmortem will be conducted to determine the cause of death,” he added.
Kabo Zitha said her sister is currently fighting for her life in hospital and the family won’t get answers as to why he set her alight now that he is dead.
“Apparently the boyfriend was hiding in the yard during load shedding. When my sister came back home, as she entered the yard he poured petrol over her and set her alight. My sister ran in the house while she was on fire. She is severely burned.
“We don’t know why he did that and now we were informed that the person died yesterday. We don’t know what happened to him . My sister is in the ICU, she can’t talk and she is on a machine. Now we won’t know what prompted him to do such a thing. But apparently he has been terrorising her for the past eight months,” said Zitha.
Zitha said the family is traumatised and fear for the worst.
“This is hurting us even at night when we keep the phones close because anything could happen. We don’t know when she will wake up. She is badly burned, her eyes have burned and she has been in and out of ICU. Just recently we were picking up pieces of her flash on the floor when we were cleaning the house. It is traumatising. This is traumatic,” said Zitha.
