“Hearsay”: SA Reacts as Patricia Sambo Pushes Back Against SAPS Version of Son’s Mossel Bay Killing

Patricia Sambo, the grieving mother of Nhlamulo Sambo, has pushed back against the police account of how her 19-year-old son died in Mossel Bay on 31 May 2026.

In a video clip shared online on 2 June 2026, she insists that her Tsonga-speaking son from Giyani was murdered because he was mistaken for a foreigner. Police have put forward a completely different version of events.

A tale of two versions

Western Cape police say their preliminary investigation points to Nhlamulo being stabbed during an alleged theft at someone’s shack. A 15-year-old who was with him reportedly told police they entered the shack intending to take items. The shack owner returned and stabbed Nhlamulo, who later died at the scene.

Patricia does not accept that version at all. She says Nhlamulo’s friend told her the two boys were inside when a mob arrived. Her son tried to hide near a cupboard when the confrontation happened. She says the friend was left alone because he spoke isiXhosa, but her son, who spoke Xitsonga, was not given the same mercy.

Read also

"Her family is deeply concerned": Details about missing single mother from Heidelberg emerge

Patricia says Nhlamulo tried to explain his identity and even offered his ID as proof he was South African. She believes the stab wound to the heart proves the attack was deliberate and targeted. A 23-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with the killing.

South Africans online are deeply divided about who to believe. Some point out that neither the mother nor the police were eyewitnesses to the killing. Others feel that the mother is protecting her son’s image by rejecting the narrative of theft. The case continues to fuel a fierce national debate about xenophobia, identity, and accountability in South Africa.

Watch the Facebook video below:

More stories involving Nhlamulo Sambo

• The Western Cape police have clarified the circumstances surrounding the death of 19-year-old Nhlamulo Sambo in Mossel Bay on Sunday.
• The family of Nhlamulo Sambo, the 19-year-old Limpopo gent fatally stabbed in Mossel Bay on 31 May 2026, has released an official statement.
• Award-winning Limpopo-born star Makhadzi is in hot water after she claimed that a man was attacked in Gauteng for not knowing how to speak IsiZulu.

Source: Briefly News