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'Witch hitman' jailed for life
11/09/2007 19:47 - (SA)
Pietermaritzburg - A man promised R10 000 to kill a woman suspected of killing people through witchcraft has been jailed for life by the Pietermaritzburg High Court.
The man, Blessing Malinga, 30, of Empangeni, pleaded guilty to the murder of Maria Buthelezi by gunning her down in her house after allegedly being hired by Mkhombiseni Sithole of Gluckstadt in northern KwaZulu-Natal.
Several of Sithole's family had died recently, and they believed that the deaths stemmed from by witchcraft practised by Buthelezi.
The Sitholes decided to kill her and hired Malinga, the court was told.
Wanted a hitman
In his guilty plea Malinga said an aunt asked him to help Sithole find a hired killer. At first he refused and he also refused to kill Buthelezi himself.
Malinga said: "Sithole harassed me for three weeks and I eventually agreed to kill her for R10 000. A friend, Thabani Dlamini agreed to help me in exchange for half the fee.
"On May 5, 2007 Sithole handed us a shotgun and pointed out Buthelezi's home.
"Dlamini kicked open her door and I went inside and fired at her. Dlamini broke a window pane and fired into her home. I did not notice where she was shot as she covered herself with a mattress when I fired at her.
"Dlamini and I fled. We handed over the shotgun to Sithole. I later discovered she had died."
Malinga to testify
Malinga, who is single but has five young children, was arrested two weeks later and found in illegal possession of a revolver and ammunition.
He has agreed to testify for the State in the trials of Sithole and Dlamini.
Judge Dumile Kondile said that Malinga was motivated by greed as he was employed at the time. He was not affected by the belief in witchcraft and made the decision to kill her himself and was not forced to do it.
Kondile said that an additional factor was that Buthelezi was shot in the privacy of her own home.
No appeal possible
Malinga was also sentenced to two terms of 10 years' for the illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.
All sentences would run concurrently with a life sentence.
He was refused leave to appeal against the sentences.
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