Muti murder scourge in Zululand
Information contained in this article was compiled from various reports covered by the Zululand Observer, supplemented with information from other news reports, but the listed cases are simply the tip of the iceberg.
‘THE people say the strong muti comes from the north. If you want muti with human organs, that’s where you go.’
These were the chilling words of a policeman who works in the deep rural areas of KZN, where the ritualistic murder of albino and other children are almost a common occurrence.
The abduction and killing of albinos in Zululand made national headlines, following the abduction of Maneliswa Ntombela, a four year-old boy of uMkhobose, eSikhaleni on 21 June.
A cousin told his mother he was taken by two men who knew his name.
The search for Maneliswa unexpectedly led to the rescue of a 12 year-old albino boy of eManguzi, when a distant relative tried to sell his organs to a traditional healer.
Mpume Mabika also offered the healer three other albino children, reportedly between the ages of 7 and 13, at a price tag of R100 000 each.
The healer tipped off the police and Mabika was arrested in an undercover sting.
Mutilated
Also in eManguzi in August last year, the mutilated body of the 20 year-old albino, Thandazile Mpunzi, was found with eyes, skin and body parts removed.
The four people arrested for her murder included her boyfriend, who was reportedly told by co-accused, the traditional healer and pastor, Bhekukufa Gumede, that albino body parts would make him rich.
He lured her to a secluded spot, where she was strangled by Mandla Mabuza and Lindokuhle Khumalo.
They pleaded guilty to murder and were each sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.
At the time, municipal manager, Sibusiso Bukhosini, said Mpunzi’s murder was not the first muti killing in the area.
The mutilated body of a man was recovered two years prior, but no suspects were arrested.
A member of the Advent Christian Church of Zion, told the media that it is a well-known fact that some pastors who wanted larger congregations for more money, consulted traditional healers and herbalists to obtain magical powers to perform miracles in church.
Vanished
According to myth, albinos do not die, but just vanish.
Albino activists say, this rumour is spread by witch-doctors so disappearances will not be questioned.
In March 2012, the Zululand Observer reported that 20 year-old albino, Nomthandazo Lungile Ntsele of Ngwelezane went missing from her home.
A missing person’s case was opened at Empangeni SAPS.
Community members believed she was the victims of a muti murder.
According to sources, Emanguzi is also notorious for muti murders of children.
In July 2014, four year-old Lungisani ‘Kiki’ Ngubane’s mutilated body was found at St John’s Church in eNcotshane, minus his stomach and arm.
The 51 year-old pastor was arrested and his house and the church burnt down by the community, as was the house of a woman suspected to be involved.
The case against the pastor was withdrawn for lack of evidence.
Mandlankala
In 2013 the bodies of Lindokuhle Madlankala (9) and his cousin, Nosiphiwa (3) were discovered in Mandlankala, in a half-finished rondavel.
Nosiphiwa was strangled and Lindo’s throat was slit. Both bodies missed parts.
Their uncle, Khulekani Msindo, was arrested after police found blood and a traditional drinking bowl with muthi and blood in his hut.
In Kwambonambi in February last year, cattle herders witnessed two men digging up the grave of Gift Day Jiyeza who died in 1999 and was buried at the Nkuzembomvu Lutheran Church cemetery.
Two other men were waiting in a nearby vehicle.
The herders alerted Jiyeza’s the relatives, but the suspects fled the scene.
Durban
Traditional healer, Elias Sihle Mchunu, and co-accused Thando Duma, were arrested for the murder of Nawaaz Khan, whose headless body was recovered by police in what appeared to be a muti killing.
Mchunu and Khan were friends.
Mchunu was then linked to a second beheading after the head of a woman was found opposite the Gandhinagar Township in Tongaat, north of Durban.
His co-accused, Eric Ngidi, led police to the decapitated body and a shopping bag with decomposed, crushed bones.
Nelspruit
A local detective said victims are alive when their organs are cut out, because it is believed that their anguish and fear causes a ‘fighting spirit’ to rise, which makes the muti stronger.
In April 2009, a six year-old girl’s tongue, heart and intestines were cut out of her while she was still alive, at Masibekela Trust in Nkomazi.
Dimaksu Shabangu’s brutal end was related in court by an eye witness.
Thabile Mnisi (29), Stella Sibongile Mnisi (46) and Sifiso Wonder Vilakazi (21) were charged with murder, kidnapping and conspiracy to sell children for body parts.
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