I didn’t eat his heart, says ‘cannibal’

Cape Town 140611- Mbuyiselo Manona was killed by a zimbabwean man. He allegedly stabbed him several times and ate his heart using a fork and knife. Picture Cindy waxa.Reporter Zodidi/Argus

Cape Town 140611- Mbuyiselo Manona was killed by a zimbabwean man. He allegedly stabbed him several times and ate his heart using a fork and knife. Picture Cindy waxa.Reporter Zodidi/Argus

Published Jul 10, 2014

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Cape Town - The Zimbabwean accused of killing a Gugulethu man and slicing out his heart and eating it says he stabbed the man in self-defence – and did not eat his heart.

“The blood splashed on my face when I stabbed him,” said Andrew “Master Benson” Chimbozo, 34, of Langa. He was arrested on June 10 for the murder of Mbuyiselo Manona, 62, of Gugulethu’s Malunga Park.

Chimbozo, a window tinter, appeared in the Athlone Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday to apply for bail.

He told the court: “The way I stabbed him continuously must have ripped open his chest. I heard the police say that I was eating his heart, but it was blood on my face.”

Chimbozo told the court he had a mobile business tinting windows of cars, offices and houses.

“In May, I was tinting car windows opposite Nomonde Tshabalala’s hair salon. She approached me to do the window of her house.”

 

“I had done her windows before but it had since faded and needed to be redone.”

He said on the night of Manona’s death he had gone to the Tshabalala’s home to give her a quote.

“I saw a big man and a smaller man open the curtain. The big man (Manona) wasn’t happy to see me. He was aggressive and shouting at me in Xhosa.”

Chimbozo said despite this he entered the house and was led to the bedroom where he began measuring up the window.

Tshabalala wanted to go out and buy alcohol, but couldn’t find her keys, and Manona accused Chimbozo of taking them. Chimbozo said he then emptied his pockets. The keys were later found in another room.

When Tshabala left, Chimbozo was left alone in the house with Manona and another man. Chimbozo used the bathroom, only to be head-butted by Manona when he emerged.

“I fell on the floor and he drew a knife from a cutlery drawer in a cupboard. I was lying face down and saw forks and knives scattered on the ground. I used my right leg to kick him between the legs and I managed to pick up a fork and swing it. I was in a state of shock.”

Chimbozo said he later grabbed the knife from Manona’s hand and swung it at him.

“I retrieved the knife. He took a long time to die. I wasn’t there to fight or kill anyone. I didn’t mean to take out anyone’s heart. I snapped and continued stabbing. I wasn’t thinking straight at that time.”

The bail application has been postponed to Thursday.

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