The voice that brings music to thousands across Mpumalanga is now cracked with a pain that no song can soothe. Ligwalagwala FM radio DJ Given Mathabela has shared his soul-shattering grief with the world, penning an emotional open letter to his only child, 19-year-old Lusanda Hope Mathabela, who was brutally murdered in their family home.
The letter, a raw and public outpouring of a father’s love and despair, lays bare the devastating reality behind a headline that has shaken the Nelspruit community.
“My Heart Has Been Torn Out”
“If I could trade places with you, I would, without a second thought,” Mathabela writes, his words echoing the helplessness every parent fears. “Every part of me aches wishing I could have been there in that moment, to shield you, to hold you, to stop the pain.”
He describes a loss so profound it defies comprehension. “My heart feels like it has been torn out of my chest. The pain of losing you is deeper than anything I have ever known,” he shared. “I keep thinking this can’t be real, that any moment, you’ll walk through the door and say ‘Appa’. But I know you won’t, and that truth is unbearable.”
A Betrayal of Trust
The tragedy is compounded by the shocking nature of the crime. As previously reported, two 18-year-old suspects, Katlego Mokoena and Lungelo Sithole, have been arrested and face murder charges. Police allege the pair broke into the Mathabela home while construction was underway, encountering Lusanda inside.
In his letter, Mathabela confirms a chilling detail that makes the loss even more cruel. “I’m sorry that you were brutally stabbed by someone you trusted, someone who was no stranger to you,” he writes, pointing to a betrayal that deepens the family’s anguish.
He apologizes to his daughter, a sentiment that speaks to every parent’s primal instinct to protect. “You didn’t deserve to die like this. You deserved to live, to love, to chase your dreams and build the life you wanted.”
A Light Remembered
Amid the darkness of his grief, Mathabela holds fiercely to the light his daughter brought into the world. “You were such a light in my life, my joy, my laughter, my reason to keep going,” he remembers. “The way you cared for everyone, the way you loved, the way you filled every space with your presence… I will never forget that.”
He makes a solemn promise to his daughter, vowing, “I will never let your light fade; I will never let that pool of blood I found you in be for nothing.”
The two suspects remain in custody, with their case postponed for a formal bail application. As the legal process begins its slow march, a father is left with only memories and a love that endures beyond the unthinkable. “I hope you can feel how much I love you, how much I always have and always will,” he writes. “I hope your soul has found peace, free from fear, free from pain.”
