Pongola murder case intensifies
More arrest made in Pongola for public violence.
THE 51-year-old St John’s Church pastor appeared in the Pongola Magistrates Court on Friday – the main suspect in the case involving the mutilated body of a four-year-old boy discovered in his church last Saturday.
Ncotshane community members packed the court premises, chanting and singing for him not to be granted bail.
Lungisani ‘Kiki’ Ngubane’s body parts were found stuffed into a plastic bag in a church rondavel, with his stomach and arm missing.
He had been sought for three days before his body was found.
The gruesome discovery resulted in a revenge riot in the area, with outraged residents retaliating by burning the pastor’s house and church on Monday.
Fifteen people were subsequently arrested for public violence.
On Thursday, acting KZN MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison, Dr Sbongiseni Dhlomo pleaded with the authorities to release them without bail.
However, 25 more arrests were reported on Thursday, shortly after the magistrate’s court was set on fire.
A house belonging to a woman in the area was also burnt down. Villagers suspected her of practicing witchcraft.
KZN police spokesman, Captain Thulani Zwane, said the community was angry over the arrests and threw a petrol bomb into the court building. According to the police, court records were saved from the blazing fire.
Police patrols are being conducted to avoid any more violence.
On Friday, National Police Commissioner, General Riah Phiyega, issued a statement condemning the violence in the area.
‘We fully understand the community’s anger regarding the death of the boy, but taking the law into one’s own hands, and committing crimes in the process, is not helpful at all.
‘It only serves to prompt further police intervention and arrests.
‘I have mandated KZN Provincial Commissioner, Liutenant General Mammonye Ngobeni, to continue engaging community and religious leaders to ensure calm and, most importantly, that law and order is maintained.
‘Additional efforts must be made to get to the bottom of this brutal murder.
‘As the SAPS we are angered by the violent killing of this little, innocent child.
‘The manner in which his life was taken away should never have happened to him, or any human being for that matter.
‘We will do everything humanly possible to ensure that justice is served in this case as well as the killing of other children.’ said the statement.
Police have registered a case of arson regarding the destruction of the magistrates’ court.
The law must take it’s cause , people are now behaving like animals ,our children are not safe anymore . The parents need to be extra careful about the whereabouts of ther kids.