A retired principal, who is also known for his literary works, believes he is being victimized for speaking out about fraud and corruption in the community.
Mmbengwa Watson Mbulaheni (64) says he is still reeling from shock after he was awakened by the sound of windows being smashed during the night of 2 September. He went out to investigate and found that the window pane of his car had been smashed.
"There are people here at Khubvi who used community money for personal stuff," he said. "I spoke in public that people must stop misusing community money and that they must return all that money. So, I am being persecuted for being vocal."
Before the car incident, Mbulaheni discovered that evil people had dug a hole and buried a dog in his yard, almost exactly in the spot where he had held community meetings. "That was an evil act; they thought we would stop having regular meetings if they buried a dog in my yard," he said. "A dead dog symbolises bad luck. Whoever did that thing is evil."
He had laid charges of intimidation and malicious damage to property at the Thohoyandou police station.
Mbulaheni had leased his spaza shop to an Ethiopian man, Mike Eriso. However, during the afternoon of 2 September, criminals entered his spaza shop and robbed him at gunpoint. They walked away with cash, cigarettes and airtime vouchers. "These two incidents are related," Mbulaheni said.
The spokesperson for the Thohoyandou police, Const Avhafarei Tshiovhe, confirmed the two incidents and said that the police had opened cases of robbery and malicious damage to property. "We are investigating the two cases and no arrests have been made yet," she said.
Mbulaheni's published works include Mufandilani, Mushengeli, Lwendo Lwa Mutshinyali, Mukosi wa Shango, Zwa Tshitangani and Mutondi. He had made a break into authorship when Sasabona accepted his poetry manuscript Mushengeli in 1989.