The death of a herd boy from Merwe Village just outside Malamulele caused quite a stir in the local community the past week. The man was allegedly shot by a Metro policeman, following an argument over stolen cattle.

From the bits and pieces of information collected from family members, bystanders and the police, it seems that the police officer, Hasani Gibson Sithole (46), travelled all the way from Johannesburg to his home village at Merwe the past weekend. He was seemingly very upset about the theft of his livestock and suspected the thief to be the very man he had hired to look after the cattle. He waited for the whole day for the herd boy to come back from the fields to confront him.

What transpired next is not clear, but the family believe the policeman shot the herd boy in cold blood at a secluded spot just outside the village. The policeman handed himself over at the police station on Saturday afternoon. He appeared in court on Monday and was granted bail of R5 000.

The death of the 57-year-old Elias Chauke of Muchipisi and Merwe Village did not go down well with his family, who felt justice had not been done. Selinah Manganyi, the dead man’s second wife, said the family was very distressed with the way the police and the officer of the court handled the matter. Manganyi said she failed to understand how a man who had confessed to killing her husband could be set free so easily. “The life of a person has become very cheap and those who have money can kill as they wish and still roam freely,” said an angry Manganyi. She said she had serious doubts whether the policeman had spent a night in the cells as it was rumoured that he was seen in the village late that night on the day of the incident. She was also upset with the behaviour of the police who disregarded culture and removed the body without informing the family. “As a family, we have customs to follow when someone passes away and this was not followed,” said a fuming Manganyi.

"My husband was taken away from Muchipisi on Saturday night. The man shot him and handed himself over to the police. The police took away my husband´s body without informing us. How are we to believe that there is no cover-up?" asked the angry wife.

Manganyi said she was equally disap-pointed with the way the court handled the matter. She said the court had been very lenient with the killer after granting him bail of only R5 000 for such a serious crime.

When Mirror visited the scene on Tuesday, we met a very uneasy Mrs Manganyi who seemed to distrust all strangers. “We do not know what the man is thinking about, after he was granted bail. We do not know if he will come back to finish us all," she said.

The story may, however, not be as simple as a cold-blooded revenge murder. It was confirmed that the dead man had been looking after Sithole´s cattle and, after some had gone missing, Sithole suspected that he might have stolen them. There is also a rumour doing the rounds in the village that the dead man did not have an impeccable record. Chauke’s wife confirmed that her late husband had been convicted on two previous occasions for stock theft and had spent some time in jail. In a statement made to the police, Sithole stated that Chauke had allegedly pointed a knife at him, after which he shot him.

“This man is a man of the law who knows the procedure, but who chose to kill my hus-band for something he did not do. If he had a problem with him, he should have just reported my husband to the police rather than kill him," she said.

Manganyi said she had asked Sithole if he had had a problem with her husband, but he said he wanted a cow for a function that was to take place at his place. “Had I known what was in his heart, I would have done something to protect my husband,” said the heartbroken Manganyi.

Malamulele police spokesperson Alson Mapindani confirmed that Hasani Gibson Sithole, a Johannesburg City Metro police officer, had been arrested and appeared in Malamulele Magistrate´s Court on Monday and he was charged with Chauke’s murder. The case was postponed to 11 April 2009 and Chauke was released after paying the R5 000 bail.

Mapindani further confirmed the allegation that Sithole had shot the man in self-defence. It was also revealed that Chauke had been shot twice by the policeman.