Cops blamed for sangoma’s murder

Durban - Police knew a Welbedacht sangoma’s life was in danger, but left her to the mercy of mob justice.

This is according to a State witness in the murder trial of three men accused of the sangoma’s murder.

Welbedacht resident Siyabonga Mhlongu, told the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Monday how a search for a missing child degenerated into a witch-hunt, with fellow residents seeking help from sangoma Philisiwe “Makhosi” Macoba and a man known as “the Prophet”.

Each traditional healer passed the blame, eventually leading to the murder of Macoba who, in her dying moments, also referred her attackers to another sangoma.

After several hours of being hit with sjamboks and knobkieries, pelted with stones and almost being necklaced, Macoba, 42, died.

The child she had been accused of murdering was found alive a few days later.

Three men, Lucky Howard, 27, Khulile Feni, 34, and Sbusiso Mateyisa, 27, are accused of the murder.

They are alleged to have stoned Macoba to death after she had been suspected of abducting and murdering Mateyisa’s two-year-old daughter.

Mhlongu testified that on the previous day, December 19, he found out about the missing child and joined a group of residents searching for her.

“We went from house to house looking for the child, and eventually we went to Macoba’s house. We asked her to join us in the search so she could make a divine intervention in finding the child,” he said.

Mhlongu said Macoba told him she felt as though the community suspected her of taking the child.

He said the group then went to see a man called “the Prophet”. “He did a prayer and said the child had been taken by Macoba and another man called Dlamini.

“He told us the child was dead and that her body parts had been removed. We as Zulus believe what a prophet says, so we took his word.”

But when the group followed “the Prophet” to a house where he predicted Nziba’s body parts would be, nothing was found.

“At that point, the police were there, but it seemed as though they had sided with ‘the Prophet’,” Mhlongu said.

“They knew people were suspecting Macoba, and they told us to do what we saw best in dealing with her, and to let them know when we were done.”

Mhlongu said at about 3am, ‘the Prophet’ then led the group to another sangoma in Inanda. “We gave him some of Nziba’s clothing, and he said the child was alive at a police station in Chatsworth.”

But police at all stations in the area had no reports of the missing child.

It was almost 8am when the group arrived back in Welbedacht and was greeted by another group of people who said they wanted to beat up Macoba.

“We all went back to Macoba’s house, and while we searched through her rooms, a group of women started hitting her with glass bottles and sticks,” he said.

“Macoba and Dlamini were then taken to a field where they were beaten severely. They used sjamboks, wooden planks, and sticks,” said Mhlongu.

“Dlamini was being beaten by a group of men, and I saw Howard hitting him.”

Mhlongu said because Macoba didn’t cry during the beating, her attackers thought she was a witch.

“The men eventually stopped beating Dlamini and he got away, but then they came to join in beating Macoba. I saw each person, including Feni, take turns to hit her with a sjambok. The crowd also pelted her with stones.”

Mhlongu said he did not see Mateyisa (the child’s father) in the crowd.

“Two other men arrived with a tyre and put it around Macoba’s body,” he said.

“I grabbed the tyre and asked them why they were doing that. They said they wanted her to talk.”

He said as the beating continued, Macoba called for him, and told him to seek out a woman called Mrs Hadebe.

“She said Mrs Hadebe was also a sangoma and that she may have known the whereabouts of the child.”

Mhlongu, accompanied by six other men, eventually found Hadebe, but saw no trace of the child in her house.

“When we returned to the field, the police had arrived, but Macoba was lying face down,” he said.

“I heard her cough once, and then she stopped moving. An ambulance arrived and she was declared dead.”

A few days later, on December 24, Mhlongu said, the child was found at a place of safety in Clermont. Chatsworth police discovered a relative had taken the child without telling her parents.

A second witness, Olga Tsawe, said she had witnessed the beating when she was returning from work.

“I saw a group of people beating Macoba in the field,” she said.

“I saw Mateyisa hit her on her back with a knobkierie. I saw both Howard and Feni carrying sjamboks, but I never saw them hit her. Many people were responsible for her death.”

The three accused will remain in custody until the trial resumes on December 6. - Daily News