Update on missing 15-year-old Tshegofatso who was found dead at her 46-year-old boyfriend’s house – Mom speaks out

The mother of a North West teen who was found dead in Lomanyaneng near Mahikeng said she tried to warn her daughter against the relationship she had with a 46-year-old man who is now a person of interest in the inquest probe into her death.

Tshegofatso Matibako’s body was found in the two-room rented house she had reportedly been living in with her boyfriend.

Police said they were yet to receive the post-mortem results; however, preliminary investigations suggest the 15-year-old was strangled to death.

Tshegofatso Matibako’s mother, Joyce, said she asked her daughter on several occasions if the man she got to know as Tiisetso Pitso had been abusing her, but the grieving mother said the teen denied it.

“When I asked she would say, ‘mama why would I not tell you if someone hits me?’ Tshego said ‘this person does not hit me’.”

Matibako said she tried to stop Tshegofatso from seeing her 46-year-old man who is being sought by police.

“She would not listen to me even when I reprimanded her, she would go back to him in the evening.”

Police said the man, who is a Lesotho national, is on the run.

Meanwhile, Matibako said she was devastated and pleaded with the public to help police find the man whose real identity is yet to be confirmed.