FOUR years after he slit the throat of his then nine-year-old nephew with a bush knife and strangled his three-year-old niece, a Mandlankala man was sentenced to a double life term for the abhorrent acts in the Mtunzini High Court on Tuesday.
Khulekani Edward Msindo (40) was found guilty of the double murder, which rocked his community in November 2013.
The court heard how the children’s mother, Nokulunga, had left her two children with Msindo while she went to work.
When she returned her little girl was missing and she immediately conducted a search for her along with the community – unknowingly leaving her son Lindokuhle with the killer.
When they returned from the search some time later, the boy was also missing and the mother noticed the uncle was behaving suspiciously.
The Zululand Observer interviewed the devastated mother the day after the murders.
She revealed how her son had appeared distraught when they left him to search for his sister.
‘He cried and begged me not to leave him. When we came returned he was gone. We asked my brother about his whereabouts, but he did not give a straight answer,’ Nokulunga said.
The police were called and searched the uncle’s room, finding it blood-spattered and littered with ‘muthi’ paraphernalia.
A traditional drinking bowl with muthi ingredients and blood was found next to the bed in his room.
The murderer then led the family and the police to a shallow double grave in the homestead.
Lindokuhle’s throat had been slit with a bush knife, and his little sister had been strangled.
He was arrested and charged for the murders and has since been held in police custody.
The court heard how the act was believed to have been a witchcraft-related killing, as Msindo had just came back home from being initiated as a sangoma.
On Tuesday, the community packed the court to witness the judgement.
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