17-year jail term for men who killed 92–year-old relative they accused of witchcraft

The Eastern Cape High Court, sitting in Sterkspruit, has sentenced four men convicted of killing a 92-year-old woman they accused of practising witchcraft to an effective 17 years behind bars. 

Mzubongile Manundu, 36,  Sithembiso Yalwa, 52, Siyabulela Manundu, 34, and Mlungisi Manundu, 40, were sentenced to 20 years for murder, and two years on a charge of imputing witchcraft.

Eastern Cape National Prosecuting Authority regional spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said  three of the accused were related to the deceased and Yalwa had been her neighbour.

According to Tyali, the events stemmed from March 14 2020, when a funeral had been held at Majuba village for Samkelo Manundu, who had been stabbed to death in Cape Town. 

“After the funeral - on the following day after a traditional cleansing ceremony - the men went to the home of the deceased, Nosayinethe Manundu, and demanded that she produce Samkelo, whom they believed was still alive and being kept by the deceased in a trunk at her home,” said Tyali.

Tyali said they stripped the elderly woman naked, assaulted and pushed her into her rondavel and closed the door. They set the house on fire.

He said as flames engulfed the hut the old lady managed to escape and run but the men caught up with her. 

“As the inferno was raging they could not put her back into the rondavel, so they put her in a big drum full of water, head first and drowned her.  Some community members cheered the killers on and never bothered to intervene to save the victim,” he said.

Tyali said some episodes of the attack were caught on a cellphone camera and the men were arrested a few days later. The state successfully opposed their release on bail.

The men all pleaded not guilty during the trial and limited their roles to what was in the video, which was admitted as evidence during the trial. 

Tyali said the video was shared widely on social media and was also aired in a popular television current affairs programme .

“In addition to the video, state advocate Luvuyo Pomolo led the evidence of a man and woman who also took part in the assault of the deceased. They became state witnesses, according to section 204 of the Criminal Procedure Act,” he said.

He said even though the prosecutor argued for a life sentence, judge Mbulelo Jolwana found the men could be rehabilitated as they were first-time offenders who had been model citizens until the commission of the offence. 

“The judge also regarded the men’s subjective belief in witchcraft as a mitigating factor compelling a deviation from the prescribed minimum sentence of life imprisonment,” he said.

Tyali said the court ordered the sentences to run consecutively but suspended five years from the 20-year sentence. 

Tyali said their co-accused, Nkosiyoxolo Velemani, 41, was only convicted of imputing witchcraft and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, for which he was sentenced to two years and five years, respectively. 

The court suspended two years from the sentence, effectively sending him to five years’ imprisonment.

Eastern Cape director of public prosecutions, Barry Madolo, commended the prosecutor and investigating officer, Col Nobesutu Dinga, for securing the conviction and said the lengthy jail terms would serve as a deterrent to other communities from harming elderly people accused of witchcraft, which is rife in the rural Eastern Cape.

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