- The father of slain four-month-pregnant KZN mom Zakiyyah Ahmedjan Ismail wants Police Minister Bheki Cele and President Cyril Ramaphosa to ensure justice is done.
- He said the three masked men who attacked her and her family on their Weenen farm killed her in front of her children.
- He described his daughter as warm, innocent and loving, saying the trauma of her death broke his family.
Zakiyyah Ahmedjan Ismail, 26, a pregnant KZN mother, was killed in cold blood in front of her two young children during a home invasion at her farm in Weenen and the three masked attackers fled – empty-handed.
This is according to her grieving father, 72-year-old Abdulgaffar Ahmedjan, who spoke out about the incident on Tuesday and said the loss caused his family inconsolable grief.
“What we know is that her husband, Ayoob Ismail, went to check on a security guard who did not reply when called out to. When he turned back toward the home, he was confronted by three masked men.”
He said the men forced Ayoob into the kitchen and demanded valuables which the family was willing to give. But trouble ensued when the assailants began attacking their 4-year-old and 8-year-old children.
“They beat him so badly. He was helpless. What could he do against three of them? They were even kicking the children when they tried to go to Zakiyyah,” said Ahmedjan.
He said they pleaded with the intruders to take money and his daughter tried to protect her children.
“That is when they grabbed her and attacked her, killing her right there in front of them. They never took the money. They took her life instead. They never took anything, and we can’t understand why,” the distraught father said.
Zakiyyah’s throat was slit, police said.
We didn’t just lose her, we lost her unborn child
Ahmedjan, a Durban resident, said he received a call informing him that his daughter and her family had been attacked on Saturday evening.
“When I got to their home, I was absolutely shocked. It has been too much for us at home.”
He said the family had lost more than just their daughter.
“I never thought this would happen to my own family, to my own child. She was pregnant. It is not just that we lost her, we also lost a child. We lost a grandchild that didn’t even get a chance to be in this world with us because of these murderers. Why would they do this? Why?”
Ahmedjan said all the family wanted now was justice.
“I want the minister of police and the government to get justice for my family and my child. I can’t get her back. She is gone, but I want justice. To murder a pregnant woman. Who does that? You tell me? Who? That is not a human.”
He said his family had lived in South Africa for years.
READ | Pregnant woman murdered in home invasion on KZN farm
“I was born in this country. My father was born in this country. I want justice here. [Police] Minister Bheki Cele and President Cyril Ramaphosa must know the hurt we are feeling. They must come here and get these criminals.”
Ahmedjan wants to confront the men who killed his daughter.
He said:
I want to see the faces of the men who killed my child. I want to look them in the face and see justice [being] done. They must be arrested as soon as possible.
He added: “I want to know why they took two lives. She was so happy to have another child, but now we had to bury her and her unborn child. For my child to go to the grave before me, is a pain I can never put into words.”
The family is in a state
He said his family was still shocked about what happened.
“The whole family is in a state. My wife is inconsolable. I am the head of this family and I have to keep my shoulders strong enough for them to cry on me. But I am feeling this pain also. She was our youngest baby.”
He said that Zakiyya’s brother, who lives in Cape Town, could not attend her funeral.
“The children were all so close. They would speak to each other almost every day, but because of this pandemic, my son could not see his sister off.”
She was a humble, beautiful child
Ahmedjan described Zakiyyah as friendly and always helpful with people.
“She was a humble and a beautiful child. She was always willing to help. She was open to helping each and every person. She was the heart of the home. She had respect for people, whether they were rich, poor, black or white, she always treated people with love. She made us all better people.”
He said that during Qurbani (animal sacrifice), she would cater for those who visited the farm.
“People who would go to the farm for the animal sacrifice, she would look after them. They would look up to her. What a beautiful baby I lost. I lost something so dear to me.”
Ahmedjan added that she was a good wife and daughter.
“She was so humble and loving with her husband. Her mother was close to her. Every day she would phone her mother, she would not miss a single day. She would tell her mother to pray for her every day. Her bond with her mother was also so strong and now it is gone.”
He said Zakiyyah’s mother “cannot take it”.
“How is any mother or father supposed to deal with something like this? You tell me? We have lost our child forever. Please, someone must give us justice. We have lost everything else.”
Weenen police are investigating a case of murder. No arrests have been made.
