July unrest 3 years on: Victim’s daughter says she’s ‘never recovered’ from her death

JOHANNESBURG - As Thursday marks three years since the July unrest hit parts of Gauteng, it offers a time of reflection and a reminder of experiences endured by victims of the riots.

Mandisa Magadule is among several people who died in a stampede at the Ndofaya Mall in Meadowlands, Soweto, during a looting spree.

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Her two children, who were aged 22 and 26 at the time, have described the pain and sorrow they continue to feel three years on.

As police fired rubber bullets at looters, some were desperately trying to escape what later became a deadly stampede.

Twenty-nine-year-old Amanda Magadula was shocked to see videos on social media of lifeless bodies scattered outside Ndofaya Mall.

She later learnt that her 55-year-old mother was among those who took their last breath desperately trying to escape the stampede.

She wept uncontrollably as she described the moment that she saw her mother’s body covered with a blanket.

“I’ve never recovered from that moment. There were so many corpses, but I couldn’t believe my mom’s body was among them.”

Magadule said she could no longer bear the sight of the mall, as it only brought painful memories.