'Why don't you kill me?'
2007-10-11 09:09
Johannesburg - "May God be with you and soothe your conscience."
These were the words Nhlanhla Ntshangase shouted in tears to the parents of the six accused in the murder case of her son, Mfundo Ntshangase, 18, in the Randburg Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.
Mfundo, a pupil at King Edward VII School (KES) in Johannesburg, was stabbed four times at a party in Randburg on September 16.
His best friend, Thabo Linda, 19, was stabbed once in the chest when he tried to protect Mfundu during the attack.
Only six of the seven accused, all between 16 and 17 years old, appeared on Wednesday.
'Now I'm childless'
The seventh suspect, 18, who allegedly stabbed Mfundo, was still in custody and would apply for bail on October 27.
The boys face charges of murder, attempted murder and assault with the intent of doing grievous bodily harm.
The drama started after Mfundo's mother arrived at court and noticed the boys and their parents outside the courtroom.
She approached the accused and started shouting at them while family members tried to calm her down.
"My only child. I did everything for him. He would never even have clicked his tongue at anyone, but you decided to kill him. I click my tongue at you now, why don't you kill me?" she said crying. "Now I'm childless and I did everything for him. God knows what a humble boy he was."
The parents of the boys, who sat next to each other on a bench, only stared at her. The boys appeared bewildered and went to sit inside the courtroom.
She later sat down sobbing on the same bench as the accused in the packed courtroom while waiting for the magistrate.
Two of the boys were neatly dressed in suits. The others were wearing ordinary clothes.
Before the court proceedings started, the defence asked that only the accused and their parents remain behind in the courtroom.
Ntshangase asked what she had to do as her son was dead. "Must I fetch him from the graveyard?"
The magistrate decided that the case would be heard in camera as all the accused were minors. The case was postponed until October 25.