Villagers burn with anger over ‘muti’ church killing
THE horrific murder and mutilation of a four-year-old boy has plunged a small rural village in KwaZulu-Natal into turmoil.
This week, residents of Ncotshane village went on the rampage, burning down the church in which the boy’s body was found and setting alight the magistrate’s court, where a priest who was arrested in connection with the murder was due to appear.
Lungisani Ntuli went missing on Wednesday last week and his badly mutilated body was discovered on Saturday in a room in the church.
Local people fear that other missing children have suffered a similar fate, but the police say they have no record of similar disappearances and killings.
But this has not stopped locals claiming that little Lungisani was the victim of a muti murder. They say they have drawn up a list of missing people, including children, who have disappeared over the past five years.
Two days after the child’s body was discovered, villagers ran amok at the church.
On Tuesday, Pastor John Fanyana Nkosi, 51, who owns a construction company, was arrested in connection with the child’s murder, but later released due to lack of evidence.
Soon after the arrest, people turned their anger on a local woman whom they accused of being an accomplice in the murder.
The police said a skull and bones resembling a spine had been found at the woman’s house.
Rampaging residents burned down her home.
The bones found at the home have been sent to a police forensic laboratory to establish whether they are human remains.
Violence again broke out on Wednesday night when residents set fire to the local magistrate’s court. They said they were protesting against the arrest of 24 residents on charges of public violence related to the burning of the church.
Fourteen of the people accused of torching the church were released on Wednesday and received a hero’s welcome from members of the community, who had gathered at the local hall to be addressed by community leaders.
The tension and anger were palpable on Thursday and a police contingent maintained a close watch on the situation.
The Apostolic Faith Mission Church has distanced itself from Nkosi. Pastors Kwaziwenkosi Mkhize and Timothy Ntuli were sent to KwaZulu-Natal from the church’s headquarters in Katlehong, Germiston, on the East Rand, to investigate.
“He is not a member of the church . . . he left in 2003 and built his own church. We don’t even know its name,” said Mkhize.