Iuze Mukube

An unwavering and resounding plea for justice was penned in a letter presented in court from the family of a woman who was killed by her ex-lover and the father of her children last Wednesday.

The letter presented by a witness, who shall remain anonymous for protection of identity, captured the frustration and grief of the family of Sylvia Tatamigu Gorases (46).

Gorases was allegedly stabbed with a knife in 2019 in Khorixas by a man she knew as her ex-domestic lover and who fathered three of her children. The letter was read out before Windhoek High Court Judge Claudia Claasen in the pre-sentencing proceedings of the accused, Arnold Khamseb (50). 

In the letter, the family described the deceased as “the heart of our family, the one who guided us, protected us, and brought us together. She was our comforter, our encourager and our source of wisdom and power.”

“Losing her is not simply losing a family member. It is losing the anchor that holds our entire family,” the family expressed.

The letter also highlighted the emotional and financial void that the children of the deceased now carry with them. The family also expressed that there were no words to express the layer of grief they carry in losing someone they deeply loved especially knowing that her final moments were filled with fear and terror. Additionally, the grief of children who relive those moments every time they close their eyes.

In describing the deceased, they also stated that she cared and welcomed anyone who needed love and reassurance and now, their family will never be the same.

“We miss her, her voice, her smile, her warmth, everything that made her who she was. Each day we live with the painful reality that she was taken from us in the most devastating way,” said the family.

The letter also pointed that the family carries the responsibility of trying to help the children heal, knowing that their hearts and minds now carry memories no child ever had. “They deserve justice. She deserves justice,” the plea echoed through the courtroom.

They pleaded with the court not no allow the accused to evade accountability, stating that “we ask the court to recognise not only the life that was lightly taken, but also the future that was damaged.”

“Accountability and justice are the only steps needed left to honor her life. Thank you for hearing our voices and to honor the memory of a woman lost,” concluded the letter.

The deceased left behind five children, of whom two are minors, aged 14 and 12. Submissions were heard from the State, Palmer Khumalo and the accused’s lawyer, Petrus Grusshaber. Grusshaber pleaded for life imprisonment for the murder charge in the hope of the accused being released after 25-years and for the sentences to run concurrently and to take into account the life expectancy of the accused as he is 50-years of age.

Khumalo pointed out that on the issue of remorse, it was more of regret that the accused shared with the court, exemplified by the manner in which the accused phrased it, that he regrets the circumstance which made him commit the offence, which was that he was drunk.

Khamseb is facing the charges of murder, and housebreaking with intent to rape and rape.

The matter was postponed for sentencing on 5 December 2025. –mukubeiuze@gmail.com