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Members of the public try to help untie Rabelani Matandari.

Assault victim decides to hang himself

 

There was a moment of total shock and surprise in Louis Trichardt when a half-naked man climbed into a tall tree in the central business district and started hanging himself on Saturday afternoon.

“I am killing myself,” he wailed from the top of the tree. “They can't just beat me for nothing.”

A bus that was turning into Burger Street from Songozwi Street came to a halt in the middle of the road. Passengers shouted and swore at him through the windows. “What are you doing, you fool!” shouted a voice distinctly. “If you hate yourself this much, why don't you go hang yourself in the bushes?”

The 32-year-old Rabelani Mutandari of Muswodi village had certainly caught the attention of many of the locals, but the sad reality of what is happening in the community is more of a shock. Luckily a group of passersby realised the extent of the problem and rushed to help untie the man. “They assaulted me,” he wept. “They are making my life hell!”

Once he was untied and brought down from the top of the tree, he disappeared from the spot, leaving people with a lot of questions.

At first it was difficult to find out what had really happened, but a woman later explained that Mutandari, who is a popular face in the streets of the town and at a local betting slot, was walking past the Tasty Snacks tavern when a boy snatched a R20 banknote from his hand. His only mistake, it seemed, was when he demanded to be given his money back.

“A group of young, drunk boys joined their friend by slapping and kicking him (Mutandari),” she said. “It was a painful sight to witness. He decided that enough was enough and announced that it would have been better if he were dead.”

According to townspeople, Mutandari took off his maroon t-shirt and tore it into strips. He walked across the road, straight to a tall tree. He climbed into the tree and started to tie a rope to a big branch. “Then he made a noose and put it around his neck,” said a witness. “He was serious – and he looked very traumatised.”

A man who declined to be named said that the suspects who had assaulted Mutandari were the kind of boys who normally spent much more of their time in jail than outside. “We know that once they get released from prison, terror reigns in the town,” he said. “They will soon go back to their real home – jail, for that's where they belong.”

Some people described Mutandari as a good man who had some luck at the betting slots.

Limpopo Mirror managed to track down Mutandari on Tuesday morning. He made a lonely figure, sitting with his back against the big wall of the parking area near Checkers.

“It's painful how those boys treated me,” he said, sounding distant. “I covered my face with my arms, but the boys continued hitting me on the arms, so it felt like somebody had thrown a bucketful of hot water at me. I don't understand why they had to abuse me in such a dirty manner.”

Mutandari survives by doing odd jobs and betting at the slots. “I do not steal,” he said. “But why do I have to suffer this much? I no longer go to the CBD – I am afraid they will attack me again. As you see me now, I am hungry as I cannot go to do piece jobs in the CBD.”

The spokesperson for the Makhado police, Const Irene Radzilane, condemned the act of robbery and assault. “The victim in this incident has got a right to lay charges against his attackers,” she said. “The problem with some of the victims is that they do not report incidents of abuse to the police. We cannot tolerate the situation where criminals get to rule the town.”

People say Rabelani Mutandari (pictured) looked traumatised after an attack.
 

Members of the public help to untie Rabelani Matandari.

Traumatised: Rabelani Mutandari says he is afraid to go to the central business district, lest they assault him again.
 

Rabelani Mutandari climbs the tree to hang himself.

 

Date:06 February 2015

By: Tshifhiwa Mukwevho

Tshifhiwa Given Mukwevho was born in 1984 in Madombidzha village, not far from Louis Trichardt in the Limpopo Province. After submitting articles for roughly a year for Limpopo Mirror's youth supplement, Makoya, he started writing for the main newspaper. He is a prolific writer who published his first book, titled A Traumatic Revenge in 2011. It focusses on life on the street and how to survive amidst poverty. His second book titled The Violent Gestures of Life was published in 2014.

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