4 DECOMPOSED BODIES FOUND INSIDE HOUSE

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.

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