Seven people have been jailed for life after they were convicted of the murder of two women they accused of witchcraft.
The convicted murderers –Lwandiso Mzaza, 29, Lufefe Mzaza, 28, Zithini Rhayisa, 34, Yamkela Nonjojo, 31, Odwa Nonjojo, 34, Anelisiwe Nonjojo, 32, and Mkhonzeni Ngcabang cosi, 24 – were recently sentenced in the High Court ‘s Eastern Cape Division, Mthatha, sitting in Ntabankulu.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Luxolo Tyali, said the court found the accused guilty of two counts of murder and arson for which they were sentenced to two life terms and 10 years, respectively.
The sentences were ordered to run concurrently.
“The Mzazas and Nonjojos are biological brothers while all the convicted persons are from the Ngonyama Administrative Area in the district of EmaXesibeni (formerly Mount Ayliff), where the crimes were committed,” said Tyali.
The incident on December 12, 2018, followed after the group held two meetings chaired by the older Mzaza brother, Lwandiso.
“(It) was decided that the women must be killed by burning them because they were practising witchcraft.
“The accused clubbed money and bought petrol to burn the deceased, their houses, and their families.
“On the night of the same day, Nothethisa Ntshamba was at her home with her husband, three children and her sister Ntombekhaya Ndlanya.
“When Ntshamba went out of the house, accompanying her sister home, they were accosted by the group, assaulted, pelted with stones, petrol poured on them and then set alight.
The group then proceeded to burn the Ntshamba homestead to ashes,” said Tyali.
During the trial, all the accused pleaded not guilty and put into question their identity as they claimed the incident occurred at night.
“Rhayisa, who had confessed to the police, attempted to distance herself from it, necessitating a trial-within-a-trial. The court found the confession admissible. The State further led the evidence of the eyewitnesses, some being the children of the deceased.
“Senior State advocate Mbulelo Nyendwa submitted to the court that violence against women accused of unfounded claims of practising witchcraft was very prevalent not only in the Eastern Cape, but in the country at large. He added that the children of the deceased had not only lost their mothers, but had been displaced, fearing for their lives and still carrying the stigma of being called the children of witches by some members of the community. Judge Nozuko Mjali agreed and noted that no self-respecting state can condone what the accused did, and they deserved to be severely punished, as a society must be protected from people who do not respect the law.”
Judge Mjali remarked: “This court alone has lost count of cases of this nature in this Ntabankulu circuit alone.”
Cape Times