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"Muthilated! Ritual horror returns to Soweto!" - Daily Sun

The front page and lead story of SA's largest daily newspaper, August 7 2013

Daily Sun (August 7 2013) - THE HORROR of muthi killing has come back to Soweto for the first time in 10 years. The body of security guard Isaac Mngomezulu (32) was found yesterday in an open space in Snake Park, Dobsonville. HE HAD BEEN MUTILATED AND BURNT!

According to witnesses:

  • The left side of his body, his right arm and head had been set on fire.
  • His eyes and private parts were missing.
  • Some of his hair was missing.
  • His throat and chest were cut open.
  • A dead chicken was found buried in what looked like a shallow grave next to him.

The gruesome ritual murder shocked the neighbourhood when his body was discovered by a passerby. Isaac's girlfriend Zanele Khambule couldn't control her grief and had to be comforted by friends.

"Take me now, God," she wailed. "What's going to happen to my kids? Why did you leave me? How am I going to live without you?"

Speaking to Daily Sun, Isaac's friend, Joseph Msimang, said: "My heart is broken. He was my best friend. I was with him every day. He was a good person and we had a good relationship. I went to look closely and saw that his eyes were removed. I was shocked and ran away," he said.

He said he last saw Isaac on Sunday evening. "He came to my place at about 4pm. He left and then came back around 7pm." A close family friend who was seen comforting Isaac's girlfriend, said she too had seen the body. "He was killed horribly. Even his eyes and private parts were cut out. This is terrible. It's evil!" said the woman who was too traumatised to give her name.

Other witnesses who saw Isaac's body confirmed to Daily Sun that his eyes and private parts had been cut out. His body also had stab wounds.

Isaac was the breadwinner at home. Unemployed Zanele has to find a way to look after their kids.

Police spokesman Warrant Officer Kay Makhubela said Isaac's body had stab wounds on his neck, chest and back.

"His left side of his body, his head and hair were burnt. Whoever did this was trying to burn him but they didn't succeed. Some of his hair is missing," he told Daily Sun. "We have opened a murder docket and will conduct a post mortem to determine cause of death."

Ten years ago, a man was killed in Rockville, Soweto and found with his chest cut open and his eyes and private parts removed. Cops later found his body parts hidden under a bridge and arrested several suspects.

See the Daily Sun mobi site for more on this and other stories....

The Daily Sun is South Africa's largest daily newspaper with an average circulation of 330 000 and a readership of 5.7m (as per AMPS 2012ab). Its Facebook page can be accessed here. It can be followed on Twitter here. To find about advertising on the Daily Sun click here.

Issued through the Politicsweb iService