Charred bodies found in burnt-out vehicles

Mthatha taxi owner and three others believed to be victims of a spate of lynchings related to stock theft

The widow of one of four men whose charred bodies were found in two vehicles near Tsolo on Sunday has made a passionate plea to police to arrest her husband’s killers.

Mthatha taxi owner Mluleki Mthetheleli Ngozi’s burnt body and those of three others were found on Sunday morning.

This incident — believed to be one of a spate of lynchings related to stock theft in the area — has sparked terror among villagers.

The alarming spike in stock theft related killings in the Mhlontlo area has awakened memories of a war in the 1990s between livestock owners and rustlers, a standoff in which hundreds of animals were stolen, about 400 people killed, hundreds of homesteads torched and over 1,000 people displaced.

The Dispatch has reported on at least 20 killings in the Tsolo and Qumbu area since January.

In the latest incident the four badly burnt bodies were found in a forest near Madwaleni village in Tsolo.

They were inside a torched Toyota Venture and a bakkie. Two live sheep were grazing next to the burnt-out vehicles.

One of the bodies is that of Ngozi, who was driving his Toyota Venture home on Saturday night with the two ewes when he was killed.

A distraught Nolubabalo Ngozi told the Dispatch on Monday her husband was not a thief, but a man who lived an innocent life.

“He did not deserve to die this cruel and brutal death,” she said. “He was no thief. He was a man who worked hard and never stole other people’s things. My plea is for the police to arrest his killers.

“I know a life sentence for someone else will never bring back his life. But there is this burning question I have: why did they kill my husband in such a cruel manner, why, why?

“Why did they burn him alive? Why are they so wicked? Even when he explained he did not steal the sheep and other people confirmed he had not stolen them but bought them, they still killed him,” she wept.

The widow, their relative Mthobeli Siyo and the sheep seller, Malwande Mhlanganiso, all said Ngozi was no thief.

According to Mhlanganiso, his father was the owner of the sheep and the sheep were not stolen but sold to Ngozi.

“He did not steal the sheep. We sold the two ewes to him and he was going home when he was attacked.

“We forgot to give him a permit for the sheep. But when these guys apprehended him, they called us and we explained where the sheep were from and that we sold them to him.

“I even said I would take the permit to them and they seemed to understand. They called about three times that night and I explained everything.

“But when I phoned them again, the phone was on voicemail. I was so shocked to learn he was murdered for something he had not done,” said Mhlanganiso.

Siyo said Ngozi’s killers called him from Ngozi’s phone. When they asked about the sheep, he explained where Ngozi had bought them.

“I begged them not to harm him. I requested them to take him to the local traditional leader’s place or police station so that we can bring all the documentation about the sheep.

“I did not even know which village they were in. I called the Tsolo police about it. But, hardly 30 minutes later, the phone was switched off.

“We learnt in the morning that he and three other people were found burnt to death in their vehicles.

“They have killed an innocent soul. If only they had listened to us,” said Siyo.

Police spokesperson Brigadier Tembinkosi Kinana confirmed the incident and said police provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Liziwe Ntshinga condemned the four murders.

“We may hold different views and disagree on many issues but violence, murder and destruction of property, as in this crime scene, is not a solution at all,” Ntshinga said.

In Qumbu on May 18, four youths were shot dead at Mbentsa village in the area, apparently amid suspicions of stock theft. Several men, arrested in connection with the incident, are on trial for it.