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Members of the forensic service remove the body.

Man in court after brutal death of friend

 

The death of a 65-year-old man who was allegedly murdered by his friend, has shocked the residents of Mpheni D2, near Elim.

The incident happened last Wednesday (15th) when community members were awakened by the loud noise of people screaming and crying about the death of a kind, loving and gentle old man. People rushed to the scene inside the yard and found a man lying on the gravel, between a shack and a brick house. The deceased was identified as Mr George Manyatsha and he was found at the home of a friend.

Meanwhile, the friend, Mr Johannes Mutavhatsindi (55), was allegedly walking around the village babbling many times to whomever he met along the street, that he had killed a “dog”. Some community members became very angry when they heard Mutavhatsindi's utterances and wanted to mobilise to avenge the death of a good man, but other residents stopped them from taking the law into their own hands.

The two men were allegedly seen drinking together the previous day and through the night at a local shebeen. They reportedly left the shebeen to return to Mutavhatsindi's home, so that they could prepare a meal and eat together. What happened next is unclear and most residents could only speculate.

Manyatsha's neighbour, Mr David Mulaudzi, said that Mutavhatsindi had passed near his house at around 07:00 and told him that he had killed a dog. “But I never took him seriously,” he said. “I thought he was just this drunk old man. When news of Vho-Manyatsha's killing reached me, I was shocked and left traumatised to think that he may have been killed by a man who was his best friend.”

According to Mulaudzi, who rushed to the scene, there was an axe, bloodied scissors and a slasher near Manyatsha's corpse. His head was bleeding from a gaping, fresh wound. Manyatsha's lifeless body lay on the naked gravel, covered by a brown blanket at the scene.

His niece, Ms Nyadzani Ramalamula, looked at the corpse and wept. “Oh, my uncle is gone!” she cried. “We are very traumatised as a family. We fail to understand why his friend (may have) killed him. We hear that he is also moving around, telling people that he killed a 'dog'.”

The family of the deceased suspect that Mutavhatsindi might have killed Manyatsha after he had refused to buy more beer. “My uncle had a lot of bricks in his yard,” Ramalamula said. “But he sold all the bricks and drank the money away with the man who killed him. He always wanted more beer from him.”

Another friend, Takalani Ravele, described Manyatsha as a good friend and an uncle to everyone in the village. “He was a darling to us all,” she said, shaking her head. “I can't understand that he's no more.”

The spokesperson for the Waterval police, Const Cynthia Ndou, confirmed the incident and the suspect's arrest. “We have charged the suspect with murder,” she said.

Mutavhatsindi appeared in the Waterval Magistrate's Court on Thursday last week. His case was postponed to 24 April for a bail application and further investigation.

News - Date: 24 April 2015

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Friends and relatives of the deceased: Muneiwa Tshitaudzi, Ms Nyadzani Ramalamula, Mr David Mulaudzi, Ms Elisa Ramalamula and Ms Takalani Ravele.

Mr George Manyatsha lies dead at the scene.

Mr George Manyatsha was described as a loving gentleman.

Johannes Mutavhatsindi appeared in the Waterval Magistrate's Court on a charge of murder.

 

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Tshifhiwa Mukwevho

Tshifhiwa Given Mukwevho was born in 1984 in Madombidzha village, not far from Louis Trichardt in the Limpopo Province. After submitting articles for roughly a year for Limpopo Mirror's youth supplement, Makoya, he started writing for the main newspaper. He is a prolific writer who published his first book, titled A Traumatic Revenge in 2011. It focusses on life on the street and how to survive amidst poverty. His second book titled The Violent Gestures of Life was published in 2014.

Email: [email protected]

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