Mthatha boss held after worker killed

A Mthatha entrepreneur, Major Bhekizulu, 37, is in police custody after he allegedly shot and killed one of his employees and seriously injured another.

Police spokesperson Captain Dineo Koena said the motive was unclear at this stage but Bhekizulu faced a murder and an attempted murder charge.

“The incident happened last Sunday but the suspect was only arrested on Thursday after the 28-year-old victim died in hospital,” said Koena.

She said early reports indicated Bhekizulu was dropping the employees off in Corhana, when he stopped the vehicle and asked them to offload some items, and allegedly shot at them.

He appeared at at Ngqeleni magistrate’s court on Friday but the case was postponed to Thursday for a formal bail application.

● An employee who claimed to have been unlawfully dismissal at the Kei Fresh Produce Market in Mthatha has lost the claim, due to a termination clause in the employment agreement.

Kholeka Joni instituted action against the company in 2012, claiming R213,937 of damages arising out of an alleged unlawful termination of a fixed-term contract.

Joni was given a five-year contract in 2010, which was terminated on November 30 in 2011. Judge Fathima Dawood on Friday ruled that the termination of employment constituted a valid ground as contemplated in a clause in the contract and consequently the termination was not unlawful.

● A man, 55, was arrested on Saturday in connection with the death of his mother, 88.

She was killed with a sharp object at Emntla locality in Ngcwazi village, Ngqamakhwe, on Friday.

The man is due to appear at the Ngqamakhwe magistrate’s court on Monday.

Butterworth police cluster commander Brigadier Ngangema Xakuva condemned violence against women and children.