Horror in Richards Bay: Woman found dead in bathtub

A Richards Bay neighbourhood has been left shaken after 60-year-old Sharon Uys was found dead inside her Veld en Vlei home; her body was discovered floating in a bathtub in what police believe may be a murder linked to robbery.

SAPS spokesperson Captain Ntathu Ndlovu said officers were called to the scene on April 27, following the grim discovery inside the residence.

Early indications suggest that several personal belongings, along with two of her vehicles, had been taken from the property.

“Authorities are currently on a manhunt for a 42-year-old man who is suspected of having been in a romantic relationship with the victim,” said Ndlovu.

But beyond the police tape and investigation, the tragedy has torn through the life of someone who knew Uys best.

For Jan Johannes Page, a close friend who lived in a flatlet on her property, the horror is still unfolding in his mind, moment by moment.

He told IOL that in the weeks leading up to her death, something felt off. Now, those uneasy feelings have turned into unbearable grief.

“I have to drink a few beers just trying to forget. I thought I could cope by still staying there, but walking there, now for the last few days, it’s very morbid, very sad. So, I think it is actually just starting to sink in now. And I miss my friend,” he said, his voice breaking.

Page said alarm bells rang when Uys vanished, something completely out of character for a woman who never left without making arrangements for her beloved cats.

“She always said, if something happened, that if she must go away for the day or the night, she would ask me to make sure the cats got food,” he explained.

A strange WhatsApp message, supposedly from Uys, claiming she had gone to see a police officer friend, only deepened his unease. Then came the silence, and a sinking feeling he could not ignore.

“I had a horrible feeling at the pit of my stomach. And that is when I decided, I was going to walk around the house.”

What he found next would haunt him forever. He noticed items missing, including the television, before peering through a bathroom window.

“Looking through the bathroom window, there wasn’t clear visibility. And as I looked inside there, I could see there something is something in the bath. And at that stage, I hoped it was just washing.”

It wasn’t. Inside the tub was Uys’ lifeless body. Page claims there was a black plastic bag over her head, a detail that has only deepened the horror.

“It looked like they killed her twice. No one heard any screaming or crying. They did it very quietly. When they brought their body out there, and they started to put it in the bag, that house was reeking.”

He is now left with questions that may never be answered.

“There are so many things that went through my mind; what were her last thoughts? Did she scream my name? Did she ask, ‘Please just come and help me?’ But it was quiet,” he said.

Page described Uys as more than just a friend, but a mother figure, a sister, a constant presence in his life.

A petite woman, weighing around 48kg, she was known in the community for her warmth and her love of motorcycles, a passion she shared through her late husband’s biker connections.

But he also believes her kindness may have cost her everything.

“She took him in almost four months ago. I warned her. ‘I said, listen, there’s something not right in the situation’, but she always reassured me.

For the first three months, they had sex. She told me not to worry, that he would be getting a job. He did get got jobs and got paid, but he never went and did the jobs.”

According to Page, the man gradually embedded himself into her life, allegedly forcing her to open a bank account for him and even bringing his son to live at the house.

“She washed their and ironed their clothes, you know, so she did basically everything. She gave her vehicle for him to ride around.”

He said tensions grew in her final weeks. “In the last four weeks, things changed. She started to cry. I never in my years of staying there saw Sharon crying.”

Now, the home where she once lived is filled with silence and grief.

On Sunday, friends, neighbours and members of the biking community gathered to honour her life, riding past her house in tribute.

“We, all the bikers came together. We had a mass ride past the house. She used to like a cherry bomb. So, we all had cherry bombs and a black label.”

IOL News