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Man passes three gates to his death

10/08/2013 01:05:00 BY SISHO MAGAGULA

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MATSAPHA – On a cool Sunday afternoon, a man went through three gates into a businessnman’s homestead only to meet his tragic death at the teeth of eight vicious dogs.

This is the story of Sandile ‘Starring’ Maziya (36) who succumbed to death at the Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) Hospital last week after being mauled by dogs belonging to Matsapha based businessman Edward Mdziniso. Residents of the densely populated community of Eteni in Matsapha have been left shocked by Maziya’s death.

Maziya was a popular ‘bush’ mechanic stationed in Eteni at a busy business area known as Casino.
According to one of his colleagues, who requested anonymity, ‘Starring’, as he was popularly known, visited the Mdziniso homestead situated a stone’s throw away from his place of work to request for his money after he had worked on a car belonging to the businessman.
His decision to visit the homestead was prompted by the fact that he had tried, on several occasions, to call Mdziniso on his mobile phone but to no avail.

“When ‘Starring’ arrived at Mdziniso’s gate, he shouted but nobody attended to him. He then decided to open the gates to gain entry. He was able to get through all the three gates and that was when the dogs attacked him. Nobody was present within the homestead during the attack and the dogs had a feast on him,” said his colleague.

The incident happened late last month around 5pm. Maziya is said to have wrestled with the vicious dogs for almost an hour before they eventually overpowered him. The dogs bit him on the neck, arms, legs, cheeks and several parts of the abdomen. When the businessman and his family returned to the homestead an hour later, they found the dogs loitering around the already wounded and bleeding Maziya who was lying on the ground.

They (dogs) were licking his bleeding wounds.
Mdziniso rushed the injured man to the RFM hospital where he spent a couple of days before succumbing to death last week Tuesday.
The businessman, a teacher by profession, Edward Mdziniso confirmed the incident.

conflicting

There are, however, conflicting versions as to the exact number of dogs that attacked Maziya.
Mdziniso said Maziya was attacked by only four dogs while Maziya’s family insists eight dogs killed him.
Starring’s father, William Maziya, informed the Swazi News that he had a conversation with his son before he died. He said his son told him that he was attacked by eight dogs which were not on a leash on the day. The Maziya family has also apportioned blame to Mdziniso’s family for leaving their gates unlocked when they knew they had dangerous dogs within their compound.

“My son told me that all the three gates were not locked. He just opened all three of them and was attacked by the dogs and there was no one to help him. My question is; why did they leave all three gates unlocked when they knew very well the kind of dogs they had in their compound? Had the gates been locked, my son would still be alive today,” said a grieving William.

Mdziniso said his dogs were not in the habit of attacking people outside the gates. He said his gates were always locked and he even installed a sign on the gate warning people about the dogs. “The dogs don’t just attack people outside the gate; they have never attacked a person outside the gate. I have three gates there and once a person opens all the three gates, it is then that the dogs start attacking. My gates are always locked and there is a sign warning people about the dogs in the compund.

I think some people just take the sign for granted,” he said. He said he bought the dogs because there were too many criminals in the neighbourhood. “My home has been broken into at least three times,” he said. The deceased Sandile ‘Starring’ Maziya will be laid to rest tommorrow morning at his parental home in Maphungwane, in the outskirts of Siteki.

‘I can only afford E2 000’

MATSAPHA – Edward Mdziniso, the owner of the dogs which bit and killed a bush mechanic Sandile Maziya has said the incident was nothing other than an accident.

Mdziniso, a teacher at Mlumati High School in northen Hhohho and a businessman of note in Matsapha, said what happened to ‘Starring’ was a regrettable and unforeseen accident, hence the E2 000 contribution.
He was reacting to concerns by the Maziya family that the money he contributed was too little. He said the E2 000 was all he could afford to contribute to the Maziya family.

“I did send a delegation to the Maziya family and gave them E2 000 and I said the money was my contribution. I did this in acknowledgement of the fact that the accident happened within my compound. This was a pure accident. If you accidentally hit a pedestrian with your car on a public road, the funeral arrangements are not entirely thrown on your shoulders, you just assist where you can. In this incident, I have assisted with what I can afford. I do not have money to shoulder the whole funeral,” he said.

Explaining how Maziya could have landed on his premises on that fateful day, Mdziniso said he had no idea.
He said he had not expected a visit from Maziya because they had agreed the previous day to see each other on a Tuesday.
“On the Saturday before he was attacked by the dogs, he was working on my car at my home with another mechanic. They were dismantling the engine. That evening, we agreed that I would go to Mozambique on Monday to purchase a new engine. We agreed that we would meet on Tuesday for them to fix the engine. I suspect that on the Sunday, he might have been a little drunk because those who saw him said he seemed intoxicated. I don’t know what he was looking for in my home? maybe he wanted money,” he said.

Mdziniso denied that he owed Maziya any money; something which might have prompted him to visit his home on the fateful day.
He said in actual fact, Maziya was the one who owed him money having paid his fine for drink-driving two weeks before the incident.
He also denied allegations that he ignored his mobile phone when Maziya called him.

Mdziniso said he found only one missed call from ‘Starring’ in his mobile phone, not four as alleged.
He said he had left his phone at home when he went to church, he also mentioned that he was making arrangement to attend the funeral tommorrrow morning and meet the family.