Unsure if it was a robbery gone wrong or a hate crime due to his sexuality, the family of a gay Nelson Mandela Bay man are reeling in shock after he was stabbed multiple times in Kwazakhele last weekend.
Masixole Level’s body was discovered in a pool of his own blood on Sunday last week.
Police spokesperson Capt Andre Beetge said the murder case was still under investigation and that no arrests had been made.
The 29-year-old’s brutal murder comes less than two months after the butchered remains of another gay man, Andile Ntuthela, were found in a shallow grave at his alleged killer’s home in KwaNobuhle on April 10.
Both murders have left the nation’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI+) community in shock.
Beetge said Ntuthela’s body had been found at about 7am in Ngabi Street.
While police would not go into the finer details of the murder, according to his family he had been stabbed up to 16 times.
“No witnesses have come forward to date,” Beetge said.
Though Level’s death has not been confirmed by police as a hate crime, his family and friends have raised their suspicions.
A family member who asked to remain anonymous said Level had been a good person.
They were especially devastated by the way in which he had been killed.
“When he was young he would vanish, then we would find him in the room putting on lipstick. We loved him at home,” the relative said.
“He was a bubbly person; whenever he was not around we would feel his absence.
“We do not know if this was a random act of crime or if it was related to his sexuality.
“We are in shock, we are devastated at how he was killed and we do not understand why he would be stabbed 16 times.”
The emotional woman said she had received the news via a phone call from someone who had walked past Ntuthela’s body lying in the street.
“I threw my phone when I heard the news.
“I could not believe it until we went to where his body was and to the police station.
“We want justice right now.
“We do not have peace, they stabbed him like they hated him.”
Level, of NU8 in Motherwell, will be buried on Wednesday.
LGBTQI+ activist Sibonelo Ncanana-Thrower said the community was concerned about the spike in killings related to hate crimes.
Ncanana-Thrower said many acts of violence against members of the LGBTQI+ community were never reported to the police for fear that they would be laughed off.
“Religious leaders speak hate speech freely — it happened in [Kariega] in a safety meeting recently.
“If churches and pastors preach these messages then we are in big trouble,” Ncanana-Thrower added.
HeraldLIVE
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