A day after his brother was killed and he was attacked by a panga-wielding man, Zolisa Magxaki, 38, found the shredded top he was wearing back in his cupboard.
It had been washed and ironed and every cut and tear meticulously fixed with neat rows of tiny hand-stitches.
The kitchen in his Bridgemeade home that was a hive of activity before the funeral has been cleaned and the house is now empty.
In the lounge, his aunts sit on a red couch.
“The house is quiet now,” they say.
“Our joker, our Monde, is gone. He was a light in this house.”
On the television, a real-life crime documentary is playing. The title is Never Say Goodbye.
On the wall hangs a prayer for the protection of the family.
A few streets away, Masi Ndyaluvane, 34, the man who has been charged with murdering Monde, has returned home.
He paid R500 bail.
“I am not OK,” Zolisa Magxaki said, stepping out of the back door for a cigarette.
“I am not OK.”
On April 27 at about 2pm, in the parking lot of a busy shopping centre, his brother, Monde, 37, was hacked to death by a panga-wielding man.
He died on the pavement. He had a deep cut over his shoulder and into his neck.
In the Magxaki family, Monde was the one who made the jokes – the one who made everyone smile.
In the collage of family pictures, his is the picture of a boy doubled over in laughter. The life of the party.
A man who worked hard when he could to provide for his little girl.
“On his final day, he tried to use a belt to fight off a man with a knife,” Zolisa said.
“He was not a troublemaker.”
The brothers and some of their friends had been at a nearby park, having a beer.
“Monde was having a Castle. He liked Castle beer. He had a party the night before.
“We were talking about job opportunities in Johannesburg,” Magxaki said.
“Monde was looking for a job.
“This guy came over. He lives close by.
“We only knew him as Mabhuti. He sat down. He looked each of us up and down.
“He asked for a cigarette. None of us smoke.
“Then he took out a knife. It was an Okapi [flick] knife.
“He started playing with it. He opened it and closed it.
“None of us carried knives. We asked him to put it away. “He took out another one. “This was a bigger knife. It was a steak knife.
“‘You are not our friend,’ Monde told him.“He got up and started jabbing the knives at us. ‘I am going to stab you,’ he said.“Then he said: ‘Jou ma se p**s.’“Monde took off his belt and chased him away.“I broke the two beer bottles and said to him: ‘You will have to stab me first.’“He ran away.” Magxaki said they had then bought some more beers and resumed their conversation.“Suddenly, Mabhuti appeared again. ‘I have a big panga now,’ he said.“Then he struck me. On the arm. On the shoulder. One on the back.“He cut through my fleece and through my T-shirt,” Magxaki alleged.“I was in shock. I realised that he was serious.“I don’t carry a knife [so] I grabbed a stone and an empty beer bottle. He ran.“His father came to pick him up. He was shouting: ‘Let’s go. Let’s go. Let’s go.’“He had [allegedly] struck my brother. My brother fell there on the pavement.“I went to him. I was shouting: ‘He stabbed my brother!’“Monde was breathing fast and hard.“‘I am OK, bro,’ he said. ‘I am going to be all right.’“I held him.“‘Hang on, hang on, hang on,’ I kept saying it.“There was no blood. I couldn’t see any blood.“His eyes were still open, but he was already dead.“I had to phone my mother to tell her my brother was dead.”Colonel Priscilla Naidu said Ndyaluvane handed himself over to the police on May 6 and was released on R500 bail on May 10.He is due back in court on June 26.