The life of 22-year-old singer Mpho Gift Sithole was brought to an abrupt end after an Ethiopian spaza shop owner allegedly stabbed him in the heart with a knife last Friday.
“A man yanked my nephew's arms behind him and another one rushed over with a knife and stabbed him in the heart,” the deceased's uncle, Mr James Sithole, said during Limpopo Mirror's visit. The incident, which shook the whole village, happened at Rivoni, outside Elim.
Sithole said Mpho went to collect the outstanding balance from an Ethiopian businessman, after he had sold him a laptop computer some two months ago. It is alleged that he found the spaza shop owner with another Ethiopian man. “He refused to hand over the money he owed and an argument started,” Sithole said. “They fought for some time.”
Sithole explained that things turned awry when the other man grabbed Mpho's arms and yanked them behind his back. “The shop owner took a knife and stabbed Mpho in the heart.”
People alerted Mpho's family about the incident. When Sithole got to the scene, he found his nephew lying on the ground, fighting for his life. “I picked him up in my arms, so we could rush him to Elim Hospital,” he said. “Unfortunately, he passed away in my arms. It's very painful to lose a child in this brutal, senseless fashion.”
Residents got so angry that they chased the suspect who stabbed the victim in an effort to avenge the death of a fellow resident. “He came all the way from Ethiopia to kill this young man!” cried Tintswalo Makhuvela of Mbhokota village, who happened to be at Rivoni at the time. “This is not good.”
Mpho's mother, Khensani Sithole, said: “I was still expecting my son to realise his full potential as a singer and a young man in the community. Oh, my heartache is so unbearable!”
However, the supect managed to evade the community's wrath and went into hiding for nearly three days. His relatives and people from Ethiopia cooperated with the local community and the police, so they promised to find the fugitive and hand him to the police.
The spokesperson for the Waterval police, W/O Kedibone Mabatha, confirmed that the police had opened a case of murder. “The suspect's friends found him in Thohoyandou and handed him to the Waterval police on Monday afternoon,” he said. “He appeared in court on Tuesday and his case was postponed to 21 October for further investigation. He remains in custody.”
It is said that the suspect, Mr Wome Eduako (23), has neither permanent place nor property in the village. He is only renting a space, where he runs the spaza shop. The police said that, so far, they only knew about one suspect (Eduako) involved in the case, and not two.
The spokesperson for the Njhakanjhaka Traditional Authority, Mr Vicky Muvhali, said the council requested the community to refrain from viewing the incident in a light that could lead them to chasing all Ethopian residents from the village.
“An individual allegedly committed a crime and not all Ethiopians,” he said. “The friends and relatives of the suspect have already offered to assist with funeral and burial costs, a gesture which the family and the council welcomed.”
Mpho will be buried on Saturday at Rivoni.
