Schoolboy, 19, tied, beaten to death in front of family

Witness claims when cops arrived they helped the assailants

“

PLEASE tell them to stop strangling me, I am dying.” These were the last words of 19-year old Abongile “Magidivane” Magquzu while being kicked and strangled to death on Thursday with his legs tied and hands cuffed, witnesses said.

Magquzu, a Grade 11 pupil at Ndlovukazi High School in Lesseyton, 14km north of Komani, died on the scene of his injuries allegedly inflicted by two police officers and three neighbours after a fight with his mother.

Witness Ntomboxolo Solani said when she arrived Magquzu was on the ground with both his legs tied and his arms handcuffed.

“One of the police officers had a foot on his [Magquzu] back while the other one was holding him down.

“There were three neighbours kicking and beating him, while they also strangled him,” she said.

Solani said all of them took turns in assaulting Magquzu in full view of his family members and neighbours.

According to Solani, when Magquzu saw her, he called out her name and begged her “tell them to stop strangling me, I am dying, they can hold my head instead”.

“His voice was strange and his eyes were starting to get twisted and changing colour.

“When they realised he was dead, I told them to bring water and pour it over him but it was too late.

“Then they took him and loaded him at the back of the police van and drove off,” she said.

Solani said about 2km away police stopped and called an ambulance, and it was then that it was confirmed that he was dead.

Speaking on behalf of his family, Amanda Botya said they were deeply unhappy with how the police handled her brother’s situation.

“He was fighting with his mother when the neighbours called the police. The police did not want to hear his side of the story, and instead they assaulted him, while the three neighbours joined in and also assaulted

him,” said Botya.

She said her brother “was killed like a dog, tied on his legs and arms while the police and neighbours kept on assaulting him”.

“We want all those involved to be arrested,” she said.

On Friday, hundreds of community members met and protested near the suspected assailants’ homes in a bid to force police to arrest the three neighbours.

They burnt tyres in front of the gates, changing from one house to another, singing songs that asked why the young man was strangled and killed while pleading for his life.

Among the songs was “Isikhalo somntana khange nisihoye, wena umbulalelani”, which loosely translated means “you ignored the crying sound of the baby, why did you kill him?”

On Friday, after hours of waiting and protesting, police finally came and arrested the three neighbours.

The crowd pleaded with police to keep them in custody until after the funeral service.

On Saturday, police and the community had a meeting where the police asked the community to be patient as they investigated the circumstances surrounding Magquzu death.

They assured the meeting they would keep the three arrested men in a place of safety.

One of Magquzu’s classmates, Sisipho Mini, said their whole class was shocked at Magquzu’s death and the manner of it.

“He was a good friend and most people at school loved him. He entertained us and made us happy.

“We are still struggling to come to terms with his loss as his friends and classmates,” Mini said.

Numerous attempts to get comment from police proved fruitless.

Komani police spokeswoman Captain Namhla Mdleleni promised to get back as soon as she has information on the case on Thursday but never did.

Yesterday she said she was in a cleansing ceremony in Ngcobo and would try and get some information on the case.

However by the time of writing late yesterday, she had not done so.

By law the Independent Police Investigative Directorate is obliged to investigate any death in police custody, any death as a result of police action and any complaint of torture or assault laid against a police officer in the execution of duty.