A makeup influencer with more than one million followers who reportedly "sometimes feared for her life" has been found dead with a gunshot to her head.
Maja Janeska, a celebrity makeup artist, aged 39, was discovered in mysterious circumstances at her upmarket home in Bassonia Estate, in Johannesburg, South Africa on December 2.
She reportedly lived at the address with her partner, Kyle Phillips, co-director of the tobacco company Carnilinx.
Police said that Ms Janeska was found in a bedroom with a gunshot wound to her head.
Following the makeup artist's death, a family member told local media that Maja sometimes worried about being murdered.
Image:
Jam Press)Image:
Jam Press)The relative, who wished to remain nameless, said: "We are heartbroken, and we seriously don't know what to do. We are in Europe and our hands are tied because we can't come to South Africa because of visa issues.
"Maja is lying there in some mortuary, and we don't have any clue as to what is actually happening."
The family member said they were informed of her death by one of Mr Phillips' former associates who said suicide was currently the suspected cause.
Police spokesperson Mavela Masondo said: "Upon arrival at the address given, police found a woman in the bedroom with a gunshot wound on the head. There was a firearm next to her. The woman was certified dead by the paramedics."
Image:
Jam Press)Mr Phillips said he was brushing his teeth in the bathroom when he heard a gunshot coming from their bedroom, according to reports.
Police did not comment on who owned the firearm on the grounds that it "might jeopardise the investigation".
But it did confirm that an inquest into the influencer's death has been opened, meaning it is not being treated as suspicious at the present time.
Julius Malema, leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters political party, said: "I haven't spoken to Kyle but I knew her very well.
"We were friends. She was a very lovely lady, forward-looking."
Image:
Jam Press)Nine days before her death, Maja told university students that she moved to Tanzania when she was 19 years old to work in a hotel and during that time she learned Swahili along with launching a career as a makeup artist and stylist.
In her last ever Instagram post on November 22, the influencer was pictured with Bujar Osman, North Macedonia's Minister of Foreign Affairs.
She said the meeting was aimed at "establishing diplomatic relations between my country Republic of North Macedonia and my second home the Republic of South Africa".
The Macedonian influencer had 1.2 million Instagram followers at the time of her death.
The investigation into her death is ongoing.
