Lungelo Mkamba
lungelo.mkamba@inl.co.za
JUST over 24 hours after an elderly couple were burnt to death at Lindelani, near Ntuzuma, police arrested five women and nine men in connection with the incident yesterday.
Elsa Dubazane and Rafael Zukhulu, both 63, were murdered after being accused of practising witchcraft.
They were attacked by a mob early on Wednesday morning and burnt to death in full view of their seven-year-old grandson.
Police spokesman Thulani Zwane said yesterday that Ntuzuma detectives had immediately started investigating the incident and identified 14 locals as possible suspects.
“During the early hours of this (yesterday) morning, the 14 people, aged between 18 and 40, were arrested and are currently being questioned,” said Zwane.
“We need to emphasise that any form of vigilantism will not be tolerated and people (guilty of such crimes) will be arrested, prosecuted and sent to prison.”
Zwane said further arrests were imminent, while the suspects arrested yesterday could appear in court on Monday.
He added that police would monitor the area.
According to the couple’s tenant, Simphiwe Dlamini, the mob had snatched the boy from the burning house, but left his grandparents inside.
The boy’s cries and pleas for the couple to be spared had fallen on deaf ears.
Dlamini said Zukhulu had managed to escape from the burning house. However, the mob chased and caught him on the road, set a tyre alight and hung it around his neck while his grandson watched.
A social worker has since assessed the boy and found that he was still traumatised. He is now living with a relative.
Last Friday, Dubazane and Zukhulu were attacked and assaulted by a mob, which had accused them of killing their granddaughter and burying her in their yard.
The couple told The Mercury at the time that the mob had ransacked their house, looking for a baboon which they alleged the family used for witchcraft.
Their granddaughter, Zakude Shozi, 16, had died at Mahatma Gandhi Hospital, Phoenix on January 3.
Dubazane had told the mob that the girl had been buried on Friday morning, and showed them the death certificate and a receipt from a funeral parlour.
Yesterday, Zakude’s uncle, Jabulani Shozi, said that the couple had been helpful and did not deserve to die as they did.
Acting Community Safety MEC Senzo Mchunu commended the police for the quick arrests and warned that people should not take the law into their hands.
