South Africa is in turmoil as a traditional healer allegedly involved in the horrific rape and murder of a 6-year-old girl was reportedly set ablaze by enraged residents.
The police in Mpumalanga, South Africa, have confirmed that one of the suspects accused of the rape and murder of Bontle Mashiyane, a 6-year-old girl, was burnt to death by community members in Mataffin in Mbombela.
The alleged perpetrator, Mangebeletane Samuel Tsela, 63, a traditional healer (sangoma), was among the suspects arrested for Bontle’s murder in Mpumalanga last year.
Bontle went missing from her home in Mganduzweni near Hazyview on April 30, and her body was found mutilated in the area 21 days later. A neighbour, Ntombikayise Ngwenya, her boyfriend, Collen Hlongwane, Mangebeletane, his son, Philasande Tsela, 28, and one other were charged with Bontle’s kidnapping, murder, and rape. Mangebeletane and his son were granted R5000 bail on condition that they attend court until the matter is completed.
The community members resorted to vigilante justice because charges against Mangebeletane had been provisionally withdrawn by the Kabokweni Magistrates Court due to insufficient evidence.
According to police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala, the police received information about a man who was burnt, and upon arrival, he was certified dead by medical practitioners on the scene. The deceased was identified as Mangebeletane Samuel Tsela, who was known as a traditional healer during the inhuman murder of Bontle Mashiyane, a neighbor at Masoyi. A case of murder has been opened in the Nelspruit Police Station following the burning of Mangebeletane.
The Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela, has condemned the mob justice and reminded the community not to take the law into their own hands.