TRAGIC END

Friends and neighbours of deceased Mompati Parks Keatlhotswe say they do not know how they will be able to go on with life knowing that they lost their loved one at the hands of an ‘abusive' girlfriend.

They blame themselves and keep thinking that had they done something, tried to intervene or had been firm in advising him against his girlfriend, he would still be alive.

Parks, as Keatlhotswe was affectionately known, was allegedly stabbed to death by her pregnant girlfriend, Kitso Mokonopi last month in Gaborone, Block 8.

The case is being handled by Village magistrate court in Gaborone and the accused was granted bail during her last appearance in court last week. Finally breaking the silence on the death of his friend this week, Tshiamo

Toteng said Parks died an unhappy man who downplayed his pain.

“He was my nigga, he shared everything with me. From what he told me, his relationship with Kitso was troubled, the girlfriend was always on his case about so many things but he always assumed that he was just being a usual nagging woman and downplayed it all,” Toteng said.

He said that the relationship started sometime in 2021. “When he met her, my friend wanted to settle down, he was excited and was committed to her. But it appears the girlfriend was not convinced that he truly loved her.

“I remember how I once received a call from Kitso, the relationship was still fresh by then. I was surprised to have her call me and after introducing herself she told me that she was worried that Parks was seemingly not

committed to the relationship because he did not want her to meet his parents,” Toteng recalls.

He then told her not to worry because his friend had good intentions about her. Little did he know that this was the first sign of many more sufferings to come for his friend. Parks and Kitso, this publication has established, were living together in Block 8 at a house that belonged to Kitso’s family.

Toteng recalled how sometime last year, the girlfriend kicked Parks out of the house. “My friend had started a catering business and all his cooking equipment was outside, he called me and I helped him load it all in my car. He told me that Kitso was very angry at him and when I arrived, I saw that indeed she was fuming,” he said.

It was after that fight that he assumed the relationship was done but to his shock, they were back together again this year. What Toteng knows is that during his friend’s last days, the burning issue between the two was the soon to be born baby.

“He told me that Kitso was always complaining that Parks had not bought baby clothes yet her due date was drawing nearer. He told me that he was on the hunt for P1 500 to buy baby things. What I also know is that Kitso was not happy whenever Parks went out.

"So on the night she stabbed him, Kitso’s family was expected to visit Parks’ family the next day to speak about Parks impregnating their daughter. So when Kitso's family arrived in Block 8 in the morning, they were met with the horror news of Parks’ death,” Toteng said.

Toteng learned from one of his friends that Parks was stabbed by his girlfriend and probably dead. They rushed to the home of Parks’ mother only to find that she had not yet heard the news about her son’s death.

“She was in the dark and it was around 0700hrs, so after we told her what we had heard, that is when she began investigating to try and find out what had happened.”

Another friend of Parks who said he was not comfortable sharing his names because the case was still being investigated, added that it was heart-breaking when Kitso’s family arrived at the deceased’s family home.

“They were clueless, they were told 'you cannot be coming with pregnancy issues when your daughter has murdered our son.' It was too painful to witness,” he said, adding that they always knew that Parks was not happy with his girlfriend but always thought he had it under control.

The neighbour who said Parks was like a brother to him said he remembered how at one point Parks jokingly said Kitso will one day kill him.

“He took it lightly but signs have always been there, my friend was never a violent person, we cannot say he was abusing her, no. He is dead because he thought things would get better with time. I am not sure why he got back with her when she had kicked him out but maybe because of the pregnancy,” he said.

The neighbours shared that Kitso was a closed book, never laughed or interacted much with them although they lived in the same neighbourhood. “We respected her as girlfriend to our guy but she hardly said a word to anyone, she was a loner that one,” they said.

Another neighbour, Phomolo Kgwabi, said that whenever Kitso saw her with Parks, there would be a lot of explaining that her friend would do as Kitso would even yell at him. "In fact, Kitso was not an open person, you would greet her and she would look the other way.

Kgwabi, whose friendship with Parks started in 2012, described the deceased as a hustler who tried several businesses for survival. She noted that Parks was loved by many because he was forever jovial.

All efforts to get a comment from Kitso proved futile. Her neighbours did not have her contacts as she had recently changed numbers. They also noted that they had not seen her since the day news broke out that Parks was no more.

"We hear she has been granted bail but we have not seen her," they said.

At Kitso's known residence and where the murder is alleged to have happened, there was no one at home this week.