A man who says he escaped from bloodthirsty would-be ritual murderers for the second time in two months was still visibly shocked when Mirror visited him over the weekend.
Mr Petrus Mmbangiseni Rathogwa (41) of Lwamondo Tshivhale says he owes his survival to the greatness of God who protected him from the evil people who do not have respect for human life. "I just heard about people being murdered for muti purposes and others who escaped, but I never thought it would one day happen to me. I consider myself very lucky because it is not easy to escape from those evil people. I thank God because He is the one who gave me power to escape," says the shocked Petrus, a general assistant at Newco Meat, Shayandima.
Petrus says he went to work last Saturday as usual, without suspecting anything. "I worked until noon and visited friends at Shayandima. I decided to head back to the village at about 18:00."
He said when he approached the village, he decided to attend a night vigil for the funeral of a relative. "I felt sleepy at about 22:00 and decided to go home alone. "When I was alone on the way, I discovered that there were two guys walking behind me, but I suspected nothing. When I came closer to a bushy area, the guys approached me and dragged me to some bushes just near the road. They then started whistling (u lidza khombole), while others were also whistling on the other side of the bush. One of them hit me in the face with a hard object, damaging my teeth. The other one called the others who were hiding and told them to come faster with the knives as a matter of urgency. One also whispered to me that they would have no mercy, but to finish up with me before it was too late."
Petrus said he does not know where he got the courage to grab one of his attackers by the neck,while screaming for help. "Those who were supposed to come with the knives were still in the nearby bushes, but one of my attackers ran away after realizing that I was attacking his friend. I kept on holding him by his throat until passers-by and community members came and rescued me. They then asked the man why they were attacking me and he said that he is part of the group that wanted to kill me for muti. I know the man very well because he stays in the village. The local traditional leader called the police and the man was arrested, although he would not name his friends."
The confused Petrus says he escaped another muti murder at the same place last month by kicking one of his attackers in the private parts before he ran for dear life.
Insp Elijar Malatjie of Vuwani SAPS says a suspect, Azwinndini Nemataheni, was arrested. "The suspect was charged with common assault and he was remanded in custody after he appeared in court on Monday." Malajie could not confirm or deny that the attack was aimed at ritual murder. He added that Nemataheni would remain in custody and would appear in court again on October 25.
* Suspect ritual murder incidents are prevalent in Lwamondo after the body of a male resident, Phedziseni Neatshifhefhe, was found in the local mountains, allegedly with missing body parts. Another female resident, Vusani Singo, was discovered dead with missing body parts near her home with her healthy unhurt child beside her body.