21-Year-old stabbed to death

Shortly before midnight on Saturday, the family of a 21-year-old man from Malaiskop received a phone call that every family hopes never to receive. The call was to inform them that their loved one had been stabbed to death.

Thendo Elton Mongango was stabbed to death in the vicinity of a local bar lounge. His death may have been the result of a pub argument, but it sparked renewed acts of xenophobia in the area.

The provincial spokesperson for the police, Col Ronel Otto, confirmed that the police have opened a murder case, following the incident. She said the fight started after the accused, Muthelo Hardlife (19), allegedly asked for a cigarette from the deceased at the bar lounge. They fought for some time before Hardlife allegedly went to fetch a knife at the place where he lived.

“He allegedly chased [Thendo] around and stabbed him to death,” Col Otto said. “After that, he tried to run away, but some Zimbabweans hunted him down and handed him to the police.”

The fact that the Zimbabwean residents reportedly handed the suspect to the police didn't stop the Mailaskop residents from banishing all immigrants, legal and illegal, from the village. Some community members apparently even went as far as chasing the Zimbabwean residents through the bushes and telling them never to set foot in the village again.

During Limpopo Mirror's visit to the deceased's family on Monday, the bereaved mother wept bitterly. She could hardly speak. She wailed and uttered that she wished she could be granted only a minute or two with her son.

The deceased's sister, Ms Lilian Mongango, said that she had never imagined that she could lose a brother at such a tender age and through such an act of brutality. “We are seriously hurting as a family,” Lilian said. “My mother is even unable to swallow food because of the pain caused to us.”

A villager, who declined to be named for fear of victimisation, said that chasing all Zimbabweans away was not a good solution. She said some of the immigrants were hard workers who were by no means involved in any criminal activities.

“Look there (at) that roofing of my house (pointing at the 'scotch-roofing'). It's boys from outside South Africa who did this kind of job and I paid them for their services,” she said. “I feel that only an individual must be punished for his crime and not all people.”

Vhamusanda Vho-Joseph Nthabalala said he learned about the incident on Sunday morning. “I got the news that community members were angry and chasing all Zimbabweans through the bushes, after a young man was killed the previous night by a man from Zimbabwe,” Nthabalala said.

“I realised that unless I acted quickly by addressing my people, more murders might occur in the village. I advised the angry community to refrain from using violence and not to take the law into their own hands, while they were busy chasing the Zimbabweans out of the village.”

Hardlife appeared in court on Monday, where his case was postponed to Thursday.

The community is holding a memorial service today, at 15:00. Thendo will be laid to rest at Mailaskop on Saturday. The funeral service will start at 06:00.

News - Date: 15 August 2014

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]