Flavia Rachel ‘Dolly’ Tshabalala was a secretary at Wits University. She was allegedly killed by her boyfriend, JoziFM DJ, Donald Sebolai. Photo: Facebook.
The family of Rachel “Dolly” Tshabalala, the murdered Wits secretary, is not doing well, according to longtime friend, Nhlanhla Mkhize.
Tshabalala, who worked in the school of civil engineering, was murdered last June, allegedly by her boyfriend, JoziFM DJ, Donald Sebolai.
Mkhize, who had been friends with Tshabalala since they were both five years old, said that she has “lost all hope” and does not believe Sebolai “will get the sentence he deserves”.
“He should spend the rest of his life in prison,” she told Wits Vuvuzela, following the postponement of Sebolai’s trial yesterday afternoon. “But with our system … there is no hope.”
“It is very sad that he is now running around,” she said. “And also very scary.”
The long-time friend described Tshabalala as someone who loved life, was kind and had “a happy soul”.
According to Mkhize the couple fought a lot, but she always thought Sebolai would kill his girlfriend “by accident”. Both her and the family “saw her death coming”, Mkhize said. “But I was shocked at the way he did it … absolutely shocked.”
The couple met in a Soweto pub about eight months before Tshabalala was found stabbed to death in Sebolai’s flat in Jabulani, Soweto. According to Mkhize, the couple comforted each other as they were both going through separations in their marriages.
Sebolai has pleaded not guilty to the murder and will make his next appearance on 11 May. He was initially denied bail but secured R10 000 bail last month.
At the time of her murder, Tshabalala was also studying towards a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in psychology at the Wits Plus centre for part-time students.
