Times Of Swaziland: 4 DECOMPOSED BODIES FOUND INSIDE HOUSE

4 DECOMPOSED BODIES FOUND INSIDE HOUSE
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BY KHULILE THWALA AND MBONGISENI NDZIMANDZE on 05/10/2021 08:39:00


MBABANE – Mystery surrounds the gruesome discovery of four bodies which were
found in a decomposed state inside a modern rondavel at KaNcesi yesterday.
The deceased have been identified as Winile Matsebula (47), Nolwazi Dlamini
(31), Nicholas Phiri (12) and Hope (4), whose surname had not been established
at the time of compiling this report. All four are related. Matsebula is
Nolwazi’s mother while the minors are siblings. They are Nolwazi’s children.
The death of the quartet has left the community with many unanswered questions,
with some alleging that they died due to an unknown illness because of their
extreme religious beliefs while others are of the view that it was a
murder-suicide incident or that they were simply killed. Some suspected that
they died of hunger as inside the house, there were no remnants of food. It is
also suspected that their bodies had been decomposing for about three weeks, the
last time they were seen outside their house.
Homestead
When these reporters arrived in the area yesterday around 3pm, they were met by
five vehicles which were parked by the roadside due to the inaccessibility of
the route leading to the homestead, which is about a kilometre away and
constitutes of a steep hill leading to the main gate. When they (reporters)
reached the gate, community members were found seated by the lawn next to the
rondavel, with the decomposed bodies still inside and awaiting removal by police
officers. A litany of police officers were found at the scene, with some taking
statements from those close to the matter, while others were doing an assessment
of the homestead and the surroundings. One could easily be drawn by the strong
smell permeating from within the house while walking from the gate towards the
rondavel as the community members spoke in hushed tones and looked evidently
shocked by the situation. It is worth noting that the homestead is isolated,
with the nearest homestead located about a kilometre away.
Questioned
In the intensity of things, the reporters were approached by an elderly
community member who directed them to those close to the matter when questioned
on what had taken place. The reporters were directed to two relatives of the
deceased, who narrated the events that led to the discovery. According to one of
the relatives, they had last seen Matsebula last year after COVID-19 lockdowns
restricted movement, but would time and again get hold of her through the phone.
She also mentioned that as of late, it had become difficult to reach Matsebula
as her phone would be unavailable on the network. The relative narrated how they
had arrived in the morning, at about 11am, where they pushed open the door of
the rondavel and made the startling discovery.
This is after they had received a call on Saturday from the husband to
Matsebula, who was referred to as Babe Hleta, who requested for their assistance
in opening the door to the homestead after he stated that he had come to check
on the family but did not get a response when he knocked on the door several
times.
Locked
This, they stated, allegedly prompted him to try to push open the door, which he
said was not possible as it seemed to be locked from the inside. According to
the relatives’ narration, Babe Hleta then proceeded to go around the rondavel
to ascertain why the people inside were not responding. “He said he looked
through the windows and was unable to see clearly what was happening inside as
there was a storm on the day,” said the close relative. She further mentioned
that when Babe Hleta contacted them, informing them that he had difficulty
entering into the house and was not getting a response from his wife and the
children in the house, they advised him to call the police for help. “Once he
had called the police, he told us that they advised him to request for our
assistance in opening the door as we had to be witnesses to it as well as his
family members and some members of the community,” stated the relative. She
also mentioned that they had been in constant communication with Babe Hleta
since that day.
Communication
The relative further mentioned that through communication with Hleta yesterday,
they then proceeded to KaNcesi from their residential area, Luve, where they
were met by Babe Hleta at the homestead. Upon entering the homestead, they too
stated that they were met by a strong smell and further proceeded to the door
which they pushed open, only to discover Matsebula on the bed wrapped in a
blanket while Dlamini and the two children were on the floor, with Dlamini also
wrapped in a blanket, while the children were awkwardly positioned beside the
bed with their legs stretched and with no blanket covering them. Worth noting is
that KaNcesi is an area in northern Hhohho located about 56 kilometres away from
Mbabane. The incident was attended to by police officers stationed at Mbabane
Police Station.
At about 3:40pm, police officers from the Scenes of Crime Unit arrived and
proceeded to the rondavel where they spent about 20 minutes before the bodies
were carried out through stretchers. At exactly 4:04pm, the first stretcher
carrying the bodies of the children was taken out of the rondavel and ferried by
three police officers who then walked for a distance of about one kilometre to
where the bodies would be loaded. The second body was taken out about 10 minutes
after with the help of some community members. The final body was then placed on
a stretcher and carried by two police officers, which was when the community
members who had gathered next to the homestead then dispersed to their various
residences. It was further gathered that within the house, there was a glaring
lack of food or even utensils used to prepare food were nowhere to be seen.
However, a dish with a watery substance was found with fragments which were
difficult to identify.
Interviewed
When Babe Hleta was interviewed concerning the discovery of the deceased, he
corroborated the events narrated by the relatives of Matsebula. “I arrived on
Saturday to check on the family as I had last seen them three weeks ago. When I
got here, it was thundering and raining so I could not hear any response when
knocking and further did not see anything when I peeped through the windows
because of the rain,” said Babe Hleta. He further said he then called the
Matsebula family, who told him to call the police, which he did the following
day and received advice to contact his family and Matsebula’s to assist him in
opening the door. When questioned on the religious practices the family
subscribed to, Hleta mentioned that they regarded Dlamini as a prophet as,
according to his late wife, most of her prophecies came true. According to some
of the family’s neighbours, it was difficult to ascertain whether the family
had any problems as they distanced themselves from community members due to
their extreme religious beliefs. A community member narrated that this was one
of the reasons it took them a long time to notice that something was amiss in
the Hleta homestead.