Seven sentenced to life for burning women accused of witchcraft in the Eastern Cape

Violence against women accused of unfounded claims of practising witchcraft is very prevalent not only in the Eastern Cape but in the country at large.

This is what a senior state advocate at the Eastern Cape High Court in Mthatha, Mbulelo Nyendwa, submitted in court in relation to a case where seven young people burned two women they accused of witchcraft to death in 2018.

Sentenced to life for killing sisters accused of witchcraft

On Friday, the high court sentenced Lwandiso Mzaza, 29, Lufefe Mzaza, 28, Zithini Rhayisa, 34, Yamkela Nonjojo, 31, Odwa Nonjojo, 34, Anelisiwe Nonjojo, 32, and Mkhonzeni Ngcabangcosi, 24, to life imprisonment for killing Nothethisa Ntshamba and her sister Ntombekhaya Ndlanya in eMaxesibeni (formerly Mount Ayliff).

The court found the seven young people guilty of two counts of murder and arson, for which they were sentenced to two life terms and ten years, respectively, and ordered to run concurrently. 

According to National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Luxolo Tyali, the Mzazas and Nonjojos are biological brothers, while all the convicted persons are from EmaXesibeni.

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Tyali said on 12 December 2018, the group had two meetings that were chaired by the older Mzaza brother, Lwandiso, where it was decided that Ntshamba and Ndlanya must be killed by burning them because they were, according to them, practising witchcraft.

“They clubbed money and bought petrol to burn the deceased, their houses, and their families. On the night of the same day, Nothethisa Ntshamba was at home with her husband, three children, and her sister, Ntombekhaya Ndlanya,” Tyali said.

Assaulted, pelted with stones and burnt

“When Nothethisa went out of the house, accompanying her sister home, they were accosted by the group, assaulted, pelted with stones, petrol poured on them, and then set alight. The group then proceeded to burn the Ntshamba homestead to ashes.”

The NPA said that during the trial, all the accused pleaded not guilty and put into question their identities, as they claimed it was at night.

Rhayisa confessed to the police in an attempt to distance herself from the rest, and this necessitated a trial within a trial where the count found her confession admissible.

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In court, the state-led evidence from eyewitnesses, including some of the children of the deceased, and Nyendwa spoke about the prevalence of such crimes.

“He added that the children of the deceased had not only lost their mothers but had been displaced, fearing for their lives and still carrying the stigma of being called the children of witches by some members of the community,” Tyali said.

Court says it has ‘lost count of cases of this nature’

The NPA said that Judge Nozuko Mjali agreed, pointing out that society needs to be shielded from lawbreakers and that the state cannot tolerate the accused’s actions.

“This court alone has lost count of cases of this nature in this Ntabankulu circuit alone,” Mjali said.