4 minors demand justice for mum
MBABANE – Four minor children, whose father allegedly hacked their mother to death with a bush knife, were at the High Court on Monday to demand justice for their mother.
The youngest child is three years old, while the eldest is aged nine years.
The offence was committed on March 7, 2022 at their homestead at Mbowane in the Shiselweni Region.
The children resided with their parents at the homestead.
They currently reside with their maternal uncles at Lubulini in the Lubombo Region.
On Monday, their father, Boy Mkhabela, was appearing in court for his trial. The children did not go inside the courtroom where the matter was heard.
They remained within the court premises and raised placards calling for justice for their mother, ‘no to GBV’ (gender-based violence) and harsh sentences for GBV cases.
Upon learning that the children had lost their mother allegedly at the hands of their father, passersby pitied them.
Others lamented how the children must have been affected by the incident and circumstances that led to the death of their mother.
The presence of the children and the writing on their placards drew attention and aroused curiosity from a number of people at the High Court.
Removed
After their mother was murdered, according to Mhlomelo Mamba, the children’s maternal uncles removed them from their father’s homestead and took them to Lubulini.
Mamba, who is the Economic Freedom Fighters Swaziland Lubombo Convenor, said the children’s uncles removed them to protect them from their father, who is currently out on bail.
Mamba, who is from the same constituency as the children’s uncles, said he was approached by the latter about taking the minors to court, hoping that it would ease their trauma to know that something was being done to the perpetrator of the violence their mother was subjected to.
He said on their way back from the court, the children were more relaxed, especially the youngest. According to Mamba, taking the children to court was helpful.
“The youngest is the most affected. This is painful. On our way back, they were much better. I hate GBV myself,” said Mamba.
He mentioned that he advised the uncles to take the children for counselling and they were considering it. Some of the children are said to have witnessed the incident that resulted in the death of their mother.
Summary
According to the summary of one of the children’s evidence, after returning from school, he saw his father, the accused, pulling his mother by the hand. His mother had been sitting outside the veranda.
The child’s evidence is that his father was carrying a bush knife in his right hand. The child allegedly saw his mother running and his father pursued her, states his evidence.
“He then saw his mother falling down and she was bleeding from her stomach. He heard his mother shouting ‘yeyi, ngisizeni bo’ when his father was hacking her,” reads the evidence of the child. The indictment states that the child was in the company of his three-year-old and the five-year-old siblings. The child also mentioned that he saw his father pulling his mother’s body and placed it near a garden.
“He was using some wires to pull the body. He then took the wires and bush knife and put them away,” the child further said. He also said he then saw his uncle, Mavela Mkhabela and his aunt, Make Sibahle. His aunt took a blanket from a house and covered the body, reads the summary of his evidence.
Injured
The children’s uncle (brother to their father) told the court on Tuesday that the accused informed him that he had injured his wife.
After allegedly committing the offence, Boy is said to have called his sister-in-law, Gcebile Mkhabela and he asked her to tell his brother, Mavela, that he had killed La-Myeni (his wife).
Gcebile relayed to her husband what she had been told by the accused and she gave Mavela her cellpone to speak to him. Mavela informed the court that his brother told him that he had killed his wife.
He said, with his wife, Gcebile, they proceeded to the homestead of the accused. According to Mavela, when they reached LaMhashane River, they found Boy washing his hand.
Mavela and his wife said they noticed blood stains on the clothes he was wearing and they proceeded to his homestead.
When they arrived at the homestead, Mavela submitted, they found children in the yard and Gcebile told them to move away.
The accused showed them the body of his wife on the ground, next to the kraal.
Mavela said the body, which had a scar from the face to the neck and another on the left of the stomach, was still warm and asked his wife to call an ambulance. However, he said his wife told him that she had died and took a blanket from one of the houses and covered the body and called the police.
The matter is pending before Judge Zonke Magagula. Boy is represented by Noncedo Ndlangamandla, while Crown Counsel Sibusiso Gama appears for the Crown.