MHLANGATANE SIWASHO DEATHS: ACCUSED’S HOUSE BURNT

MHLANGATANE – Taking law into own hands.

It would appear emotions got the better of some Mhlangatane residents, after they were alleged to have set on fire, a one-room house, belonging to the man charged with the death of six people in the area. The victims died after drinking siwasho (concoction), which was allegedly poisoned and subsequently, the suspect who was arrested by the police the following day, has been slapped with 25 charges after appearing before the Pigg’s Peak Magistrate Court on Tuesday.

Allegations are that the suspect, not only poisoned the siwasho but allegedly did same to water at the Ndwandwe homestead, where the spine-chilling incident is said to have played out. He is believed to have poisoned the siwasho with the main target being a woman who it is alleged, he was in a love relationship with.

Suspect

According to some family members of the deceased persons, the suspect allegedly stayed in the one-room house situated inside the Ndwandwe compound and this is the same structure that was set alight by unknown people, believed to be disgruntled residents. When this publication paid a visit to the homestead, the house in question was indeed found to have been burnt, with most of the valuables inside reduced to ashes.

Actually, some police officers were seen taking pictures of the house and recording statements from members of the Ndwandwe family after the incident was reported to the law enforcers. It is worth noting that the veracity of the allegations against the suspect, are yet to be tested in the court of law. The family member alleged that the suspect was invited to stay in the one-room by the husband of one of the deceased persons.

Invited

“The suspect was invited to stay at the Ndwandwe residence by the husband of the woman who drank the siwasho and passed away. The information we have is that he was asked by the woman’s husband to assist with some work at the compound and as time went on, he got into a love relationship with the woman. “The relationship got serious and we are led to believe that he (suspect) even rented a room for the woman at Buhleni. “However, things did not go as planned as they got into constant arguments with the woman who then decided to return to her husband,” the family member alleged.

This, according to the family member, did not go down well with the suspect who is alleged to have repeatedly threatened the woman. This eventually led to that fateful day, when the family members unknowingly drank the concoction. “The poisoning of the siwasho was well planned by the suspect, even though on the day, the residence was full of people, who had come for preparations ahead of the cleansing ceremony of the widow, who unfortunately drank the concoction and passed away.

Victims

“Two people were assigned by the bishop to guard the siwasho but it would seem the suspect took his time to the grab the opportunity of interfering with the siwasho. The sad thing is that even innocent children who drank the siwasho were victims at the end,” he alleged. It has been gathered that the autopsy on the deceased was to be conducted on Thursday at the Mbabane Government Hospital to establish the cause of their deaths.

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