'I'm an innocent man'
2008-12-04 08:07
Thobile Mlangeni & Oris Mnisi
Bushbuckridge - A man accused of killing a woman for muthi has walked free after charges were withdrawn against him.
But Hlawuleka Moses Mkhabela, 31, of Saselani in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, says he fears for his life as neighbours have been sending him death threats, have petrol-bombed his house and evicted his family.
"I?m an innocent man. I never killed anyone in my entire life and I would never kill anyone. I beg the community to accept my family and me back," he said.
He had pleaded not guilty to murder in the Bushbuckridge Magistrate's Court and was let off the hook on Friday because DNA tests failed to link him to the crime.
Mkhabela says some people are also scared of him.
One young man died over the weekend when he ran away from Mkhabela into the R40 road and was hit by a car.
"It hurts to see everyone running away from me," said Mkhabela.
His family, including his 74-year-old father who was a headman in the village, has been given shelter by the local police.
Mkhabela was implicated in the murder of a woman in September 2006. Her body was found in bushes in the N’warere valley without a head, breasts and hands. Her private parts had also been cut.
Mkhabela was arrested when police found a bloody T-shirt in his bakkie. The T-shirt was sent for DNA tests, but failed to link him to the murder.