Daily Sun (January 6 2013) - WHEN the five-year-old boy went missing, his father consulted a sangoma to find out who had kidnapped his son.
"The sangoma showed me two men in the mirror," Wilson Mathebula told residents afterwards.
NOW RAMPAGING NEIGHBOURS HAVE DESTROYED THE TWO MEN'S PROPERTY . . . BUT THE BOY IS STILL MISSING!
And the people who have lost all their belongings are in hiding, fearing for their lives.
Matimu Mathebula was last seen eight days ago, playing with a 12-year-old boy outside his house in Mapuve, outside Giyani in Limpopo.
Then Matimu disappeared and all the residents of the village went searching for the boy.
Later the cops were called - but still the boy was not found.
The desperate Wilson (34) found a sangoma in Giyani section E, paid him R300, and the traditional healer allegedly showed him the images of two local men accused in the mirror of killing the little boy.
On Friday the community gathered at the local playground and accused the men of killing Matimu for muthi purposes.
"When I told the residents who I had seen in the mirror, they became angry and threatened to kill them," said Wilson.
When the accused men heard of the meeting, they realised that their lives were in danger and went into hiding with their families. That was when residents destroyed their property.
Jabulani Chabalala, one of the men accused of the murder of Matimu, told Daily Sun he had nothing to do with the boy's disappearance.
Speaking from his hiding place, Jabulani said the people who burnt his house are jealous of his success.
"They don't want me to get ahead in life," he said.
"I've lost my three-bedroom house, two bakkies, all of my furniture and other property."
Jabulani said he is related to Wilson and the family of the missing boy.
"I still cannot believe what they did," he said. "They would have killed me if they had found me."
Provincial police spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaundzi has condemned the incident.
He said the people of the village should rather work with the police and help find the boy.
He said the police had arrested three people for alleged arson and malicious damage to property.
"And we expect to arrest more very soon," the brigadier said.
Meanwhile, the people accused of the crime by the villagers remain in hiding.
See the Daily Sun mobi site for more on this and other stories....
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