A local optometrist, who is also an evangelist of Armed 4 Harvest Ministries, with a similar name to a man arrested for the attempted ritual murder in Shayandima a fortnight ago, approached Mirror this week to clear his name.

Two weeks ago, Mirror carried a story of Khathutshelo Lalamani (25) of Muledane, whose left ear was sliced off by his attackers in what is termed a foiled attempted ritual murder.

When the police arrested Julius Dzivhani and Lutendo Dzivhani, the majority of people concluded that one of the suspects was evangelist (Dr) Fitzgerald Lutendo Dzivhani (36) founder of the Armed 4 Harvest Ministries.

After receiving several calls from different people throughout the country, inquiring if he was really involved in ritual murder, the evangelist decided to protest his innocence and to put the record straight by clearing his name through Mirror.

He is originally from Shayandima, but he is now staying in Louis Trichardt. "I only heard about the story when I was at a revival meeting in Tzaneen. Everybody, including myself, was shocked. I come from a devoted Christian family who are also involved in spreading the Gospel of Christ. I personally condemn ritual murder," he said.

He has practices in Biaba and Musina respectively. He said that people should stop looking at him with suspicious eyes and that they must not associate him with heinous crimes such as ritual murder.

He said that other people are calling his wife and children to inquire if he was really in police custody for muti murder. "These people are concerned, because ritual murder is a burning issue in the area. Now I want people to rest assured that I am not involved in ritual killings and that the person in police custody is someone with a name similar to mine.

Dr Dzivhani is an international evangelist who has visited countries like Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique, Kenya, DR Congo, Swaziland, and the Netherlands, to mention but a few. "I am a servant of God who has never and will never involve himself with ritual murder. I hope that people are no longer going to mistake me for the person arrested for this heinous crime," he said.