The eight-year-old daughter of slain runner Elizabeth “Tsontso” Moselakgomo has paid an emotional tribute to her mother, describing her as a “beautiful angel”.
In a poem read at her mother’s funeral service in Phake, Mpumalanga, the young girl said she would hold on to the memories they shared and carry her mother in her heart as she grows.
Moselakgomo went missing on 9 September while out on an afternoon run in Kempton Park on Gauteng’s East Rand. Her body was found three days later in Rhodesfield.
Her daughter, Khumo, said that while she wished she could hug her mother again, she would look to the sky and imagine her watching over her with love.
“I imagine you’re watching me from above with love in your eyes. I wish I could hug you. I wish you could be here, but I carry you inside my heart so you can always be near as I grow each day.
I will remember all you have brought me, and when I look up, I will still know you are with me. Your beautiful daughter loves you so much. She misses you every day, but I know that I have gained a beautiful angel in you,” she said.
Moselakgomo’s sister, Dikeledi, said the family was devastated by the loss of a pillar of strength. She said Tsontso had helped fill the void left by their mother’s death and supported the family through difficult times.
Dikeledi said that while people often search far for answers, the perpetrator could sometimes be closer than expected.
“Sometimes we might search far, not knowing that the perpetrator is amongst us. My sister helped us from zero after the death of our mother. She made sure that she filled the void of losing our mother, who was a single parent.
Today, I’m burying another pillar of strength in my life. I’m shattered,” she said.
