Rose Mhlanga sits on a couch. Her pain is evident. She scrunches up her forehead, rubbing her face, battling to find the words.
"It is so long ago, but you never forget your child. The love that you have for your child, for your only daughter, it never dies."
It's 14 years since her 16-year-old daughter Kate was raped and murdered by the Pretoria serial killer dubbed the Villieria Slayer.She was the first of the killer's seven victims, six of whom who were raped and murdered in Sunnyside, Villieria, Mamelodi and Akasia. One woman escaped alive but was unable to give police a detailed description of her attacker.
The killer, who last struck in June 2013, has remained elusive, having never been identified, with the DNA recovered from his victims not matching any police records.
After killing Kate, the man seemingly disappeared for eight years, until 15-year-old Dinah Morena was attacked in April 2012. Her body was found by Sunnyside police close to where Kate was found, tied to a fence with her underwear, half naked, in a manner which former investigators say shows the killer was playing out his fantasies.
Months after killing Dinah, the killer struck again, raping and murdering Refelwe Makhondo in Mamelodi in December 2012.
He then stepped up his crime spree, raping a 25-year-old woman in Villieria in February 2013 - who escaped alive - before raping and murdering Portia Shirmani, 23, in Akasia, and an unknown woman in Villieria in May 2013.
In June 2013 he committed his last known rape and murder, when 14-year-old Lungile Precious Dlamini was killed, also in Villieria.
For Mhlanga, knowing that her daughter's killer has never been caught haunts her.
"She was such a bright child. She had so much going for her and was so happy."Mhlanga said the Saturday that Kate vanished she had been attending extra maths classes. Her teachers felt she had the potential to excel and go to university.
"Kate and I went into the city together. I went to work. I was meant to meet Kate in the city centre later."
Kate phoned her mother as arranged to confirm she was waiting at a phone booth in Prinsloo Street. It was the last time Mhlanga would speak to her daughter.
When she arrived a short while later, Kate was not there. "I looked everywhere. I asked the shopkeepers, the drivers at the taxi rank and a queue marshal who lived close to us."
Mhlanga continued to search for Kate, walking the city's streets until it got dark. Eventually she went home, waiting up most of the night for Kate to return. She never did.
Lured to a field
Unbeknown to her, Kate had been lured by her killer to a field in Sunnyside, near Pretoria's iconic Telkom tower, where she had been partially stripped, tied to a fence with her underwear and murdered.
Mhlanga last heard from the police four years ago. "They said they had some leads, but nothing has happened."
Mhlanga will never forget the day she identified Kate's body at the mortuary. The day before, she, her family and employers had walked the streets handing out flyers.
Then came the call to go to Pretoria central police station. "When I saw the police officer I knew my baby was gone."Mhlanga said what hurt the most was knowing that the man who killed Kate was still at large. "Until this person is caught we will never get closure."
Not knowing why her daughter was targeted gnaws at her.
Former police forensic psychologist Hayden Knibbs said that with serial killers, while there were sexual elements to the crimes, there could also be fantasy elements as well.
"There could be elements of sexual development, with the perpetrator escaping to fantasies from when they were growing up. It's so nuanced it's impossible to identify a single cause." Such killers viewed the world as dull and had very subtle emotional detachments from people. "Such extreme murderous behaviour somehow actually gives them some emotional fulfilment."..