Hundreds confess to eating human flesh

KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbhele said on Friday that one of the accused, also an inyanga (traditional healer), was arrested in Amangwe area where more body parts were found.

It has been alleged that the men raped, killed and cut up the body of a woman, which they then consumed.

Hundreds of outraged Estcourt locals gathered outside the magistrate’s court on Monday morning, armed with cameras and cellphones in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the four men.

With police guarding the entrance to the court, residents were warned to stay back as the men were loaded into a police van after their court appearance and taken into police custody until their formal bail application on August 28.

Later, ward councillor Mthembeni Majola, who held a meeting at the Esigodlweni community hall on Monday morning, said that around 300 residents had confessed to visiting Mbatha, an inyanga, and knowingly eating human flesh that he gave to them.

He said that there were around 700 people at the meeting where about 300 residents confessed to allegedly knowing Mbatha had human flesh and allegedly confessed to eating it.

He said a community member, who had been very close to Mbatha, had had a falling out with the inyanga.

Majola alleged that the matter was not just limited to Estcourt and that the inyanga had links across the Uthukela area.

Majola alleged that Mbatha had been a practising inyanga in Ladysmith before he fled to Rensburgdrift earlier this year as the Ladysmith community had allegedly attacked and killed another inyanga in the area, however, this could not be confirmed.

“We don’t know what to do or who to trust,” said Majola.