The family and friends of 25-year-old Sinesipho Ncwadi, who was found murdered and allegedly raped in a Dunoon shack on New Year’s Day, are calling for justice as no one has been arrested.

The victim’s cousin, Anathi Ncwadi, said that if only she had been with Sinesipho on New Year’s Eve she might still be alive.

Sinesipho had been out drinking with friends at the beach on New Year’s Eve and had caught a taxi home to Dunoon, she said.

After being dropped at her home, it is believed that she was lured to a shack in Ngena Street by a man who had been visiting his family in Dunoon.

According to Anathi, the man had then murdered and raped Sinesipho in the family’s shack while they had been at a midnight New Year’s Eve church service.

“When the owner of the place came home, he noticed that the door was locked and jumped through the window. He was then shocked to find her (Sinesipho) strangled and covered with a sheet over her naked body,” Anathi said, choking on emotion.

Since then, the alleged perpetrator had vanished, she said.

Sinesipho’s family had suffered a great loss, and Sinesipho’s 4-year-old daughter was left without a mother, Anathi said.

“We are still struggling to puzzle this all together, and with no arrests and the suspect at large, it makes it equally difficult to deal with the pain.”

She added that the police were keeping the family informed of the investigation, but she feels they could do more to apprehend the suspect.

“I will miss Sinesipho for our check-in chats and her ability to make me laugh. She will be missed by all. She was loved by all who knew her,” she said.

Sinesipho will be laid to rest in her hometown in Tsolo in the Eastern Cape on Saturday January 18.

The family were seeking help to pay for her funeral ceremony, said Anathi.

Nomvuzo Mukumela, a Dunoon gender-based violence activist and founder of the Nomvuzo Foundation, said she was disgusted with the police’s handling of the case as the suspect was still at large nearly two weeks later despite the community providing numerous leads.

Frustration was growing in Dunoon over the case, she said.

“We as the community have decided to support this family because they have no closure until the perpetrator is behind bars,” said Ms Mukumela.

She pleaded with the “men in the community” to protect women and children.

She said she was working with the Dunoon Women For Gender Equity Group to help counsel the family and friends of the victim.

Milnerton police spokeswoman Captain Nopaya Madyibi told Tabletalk that the “suspect is still on the run”, and they were not willing to divulge further information as it could interfere with the investigation.

However, she confirmed that they were investigating a rape and murder after the victim’s body was found covered on a bed in Ngena Street in Dunoon on Wednesday January 1.

To help the family with funeral arrangements, call Anathi at 066 077 3770.