An Eastern Cape father, watching in horror as a mob of community members beat his son to a pulp, begged him to die before being burned alive, while a traumatised nine-year-old cried hysterically, pleading for her mother’s life.
While the country ushered in the new year in 2022, the four young people from Xesi, formerly Middledrift, were rounded up by the angry community, brutally assaulted, tied up with cable wires and burned alive.
They were accused of cable theft.
The victims were Lwando Makinana, Ziphozihle Thimba, Nwabisa Melane and Vuyo Clifford Lamani.
Makinana’s father, who witnessed the gruesome assault on his son, testified that he “pleaded with him to die due to the injuries he sustained before he was burned”.
Witnesses of this horrific killing relived the ordeal when testifying during the trial of 15 people charged with four counts of murder, four of kidnapping, and public violence.
The group, who were recently convicted as charged, are due to be sentenced in December.
They are Mluleki Xulu, Dumisani Mpofana, Bantu Marali, Lindi Mbinyashe, Unathi Kakalala, Mfuniseli Mbinhashe, Nombulelo Kitise Bakani, Zwelandile Boy-Boy Kitise, Yanginkosi Solani, Nkosinathi Dyantyi, Lungisa Mtyana, Zandisile Kitise, Nombuzo Mbinyashe, Mvelisi and Thobani Vena.
In her judgment in the Bhisho high court, judge Thandi Norman found that all 15 accused had actively participated in the killing of the four victims.
It was the state’s case that there was an agreement among the Ndindwa community members that cable thieves would be burned.
On December 30 2022, there was a meeting to discuss the issue of cable theft.
The decision was that people who they suspected of stealing cables should be questioned as to where they got the cables from.
During the meeting at Dyantyi’s home, a cousin of Lwando Makinana’s, named Kongo, was asked whether it was true that he (Lwando) was stealing cables.
His neighbour urged him to speak the truth, otherwise he would be burned.
After Kongo indicated that he saw the cables at Makinana’s home, it was communicated to the elderly men of the community.
Community members were prohibited from contacting the police.
Once those suspected were identified, they were rounded up and taken to a location where they were killed.
Norman, in handing down judgment, said: “One would have thought that once the cables were found, that would have been the end of the ordeal, but no, the community took the suspected thieves with or without cables to the same spot ...
“As they were burned, they formed a circle around them to prevent escapes and even cut the ligaments of Nwabisa.
“There was only one outcome that was desired, and that was burning them until they died.
“To suggest that all this happened at the spur of the moment and was not planned is, with respect, not consistent with the established common cause facts.
“This was a plan to carry out mob justice.
“This became evident when Nwabisa was subjected to the same treatment as the three males that included her boyfriend.
“There was not a single member of the community who called the police until after the demise of the deceased.
“I find that this was a well-executed plan to deal with the cable thieves most cruelly and horrifically.”
This was all happening in public. They then burned alive the four victims, including a woman who was visiting her boyfriend, Lwando, and was from another village, Qamdobowa.
She said evidence showed that the accused individually and collectively associated themselves with the common purpose of killing the four by actively participating in the assault and/or preparations for burning them and by ensuring that they burned to death.
She said she was satisfied that the state proved beyond a reasonable doubt that each of the accused knew what they were doing.
“The deceased were burned and their bodies were referred to in medical terms as ‘charred’.
“I am satisfied that the state proved the guilt of each of the accused on all the charges.
“It was submitted that if an accused was present when one victim was fetched, then he or she should be found guilty of kidnapping that one person.
“That approach goes against the spirit and purport of common purpose. The second form of common purpose is active association.
“What was happening on the day in question at Ndindwa involved about 2,000 people, according to Makinana [Lwando’s father], who fetched Lwando, Ziphozihle, Vuyo and Nwabisa, subjected them to violent attacks with iron rods, sticks and knobkerries.
“This was all happening in public. They then burned alive the four victims, including a woman who was visiting her boyfriend, Lwando, and was from another village, Qamdobowa.
“Those actions interfered with the rights of, for example, the parents of the victims whose adult children were forcibly removed from their homes.
“Nwabisa’s nine-year-old daughter who cried, pleading for her mother’s life, the unlawful burning of human beings, and leaving them for dogs to feed on their corpses, as testified by Constable Phithi — that fits in squarely with the definition of public violence.
“I accordingly find there is no duplication of charges.
“The state succeeded in proving beyond a reasonable doubt that all the accused committed public violence.”
Daily Dispatch
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