Daily Sun (May 30 2014) - THE SHOCKED congregation watched as the wild pastor appeared before them. He had pins all over his body, he was carrying spears and raging about evil spells. THEN HE ALLEGEDLY LUNGED AT A LITTLE BOY, KILLING HIM WITH ONE VICIOUS STAB TO THE HEAD.
The congregation could do nothing to save Hlumelo Matiwane (5), who died in a pool of his own blood. The boy's father, Nkosiphendule Matiwane (40), who was not at the service, wants justice for his son's terrible death.
"I got a call from my ex-wife to say that Hlumelo was dead," he said.
Nkosiphendule said his ex-wife, the mother of the dead boy, had told him Hlumelo had hit his head against a wall.
"I only heard later what had really happened," he said.
When Daily Sun spoke to members of the Nazareth Church in Libode, near Mthatha, Eastern Cape who were at the night service on 19 April when the boy died, the People's Paper were told what allegedly happened.
"The pastor was very strange that night," said a member of the congregation who was at the service.
"He had pins all over his body and he was carrying spears. He was screaming about people casting spells on him."
The service continued as the nervous church members prayed and worshipped until the pastor spoke to Hlumelo. The woman said that as the boy turned to him, the pastor grabbed a spear and stabbed Hlumelo in the head.
"Hlumelo spun around a few times and then fell to the ground," she said.
She said while they were standing around shocked, the pastor said: "Okhe wathetha anduzu xakwa ukuba ndimthini."
"It means ‘whoever says anything about this will be taken care of' but I could not keep quiet," said the woman.
She said she is a mum herself and decided to tell Nkosiphendule what had really happened. When Nkosiphendule heard the story he immediately rushed to the cops. When they did a post mortem they found Hlumelo had been killed with a sharp object which had pierced his head.
Hlumelo was buried on 3 May.
"Burying my child was the greatest pain I have ever felt," said Nkosiphendule.
"I want this man to tell me why he killed my son."
Hlumelo's mum, Ntombomzi Gantonto, did not want to speak to Daily Sun. Her marriage to Nkosiphendule ended in divorce in 2011 and she has since remarried. Police spokeswoman Warrant Officer Dineo Koena confirmed that a case of murder was opened following Hlumelo's death and that cops were still looking for the pastor, who has since disappeared from Libode.
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