Olorato Mongale's family pleads with SAns to show compassion to man cleared as suspect in her murder

BLOEMFONTEIN - The family of Olorato Mongale is pleading with South Africans to show compassion towards Fezile Ngubane, the man police cleared in connection with the 30-year-old’s murder.

Ngubane was taken in for questioning last week, but authorities have since confirmed that he played no role in Mongale’s death.

The master’s student was laid to rest in Bloemfontein on Sunday, a week after her body was found dumped in Lombardy West in Gauteng.

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Although Ngubane was cleared by police in the matter, Mongale’s family said it was worried that the damage had already been done, fearing he may now face unfair stigma.

They said that Mongale would not have wanted Ngubane to pay for a crime he didn’t commit, adding that the 30-year-old would have wanted the KwaZulu-Natal man to rebuild his life.

The Mongale family said that Ngubane was also a casualty, adding they believed that Olorato fought for justice from beyond the grave.

"The most incredible thing that happened with Olorato is that as she goes, as she bows out, she made sure that a co-victim is liberated because he was wrongfully accused," said family spokesperson Chriselda Kananda.

The family said they were still searching for closure, with the second suspect still on the run.