Family fears witnesses are too scared to speak after Kewtown mother’s killing - IOL

Zakira Christian, 28 was stabbed to death.

A nine-year-old boy has been left without his mother after she was found stabbed to death in a Kewtown field, just hours after she left the scene of another killing to break the news to her boyfriend.

Zakira Christian, 28, was found with a stab wound to her chest on September 22, leaving her family with the painful question of what happened after they last saw her alive.

​Christians, was last seen alive on Monday night, 21 September 2026, when her boyfriend’s brother, Clinton Browers, 32, was shot dead in Nerina Close, Kewtown.

​According to her family, Zakira was at the scene and said that she was going to tell her boyfriend that his brother was shot dead, but she never arrived.

​A family member, who wants to protect her identity for fear for her safety, said that she received a message the next day, 22 September 2026, with a picture of the grim discovery.

​The family member explained: “I also saw her the night before her passing when Clinton was shot and she said she was going to tell her boyfriend about the passing of Clinton but never got to him.

​“We are also trying to figure out what happened but do not want to speculate anything.

​“I got a message on Tuesday morning with the scene picture and immediately I knew who was lying there.

​“Daai was ‘n baie harde slag. (That was a hard knock) She had a stab wound to the chest but no defensive wounds that would say that she defended herself.”

​The Daily Voice was told that at the time of her murder, her mother was at Red Cross Hospital with her son.

​The relative added: “I had to call her mother to come home, but I did not want to give her the news over the phone; I just said that something happened to Zakira and she knew immediately [that her daughter was dead].”

​The family member described Zakira as a soft-hearted person who was the eldest of five sisters.

“We are still talking about the type of person she was. She was a loudmouth, but a soft-hearted individual. You could ask her to do anything and she would do it because she had a loving side to her, but the life choices she made pushed her in a different direction," the source said.

​“Too many women are being killed, and it is sad because Zakira was the eldest of five sisters. It could have happened to anyone.

​“Her son is currently not showing any emotion regarding his mother’s passing; he is still the same child. I don’t think he is processing it yet, but I think when the funeral takes place that is when it will hit him and when he is older, he is going to have questions.”

​The family is hoping for justice but claims that the ongoing gang war in the community is crippling witnesses with fear.

​The resident added: “There is currently war between two gangs in the area, so there has been a lot of bloodshed and murders in Athlone, so I think people are afraid to come forward with information and prefer not to talk because it has become the norm.”