Man dies in brawl over jacket

902 A crime scene expert takes pictures of the scene on 7th street in Linden where 3 men tried to hijack a woman after a chase with the police that started in Robindale. 190208. Picture: Bongiwe Mchunu

902 A crime scene expert takes pictures of the scene on 7th street in Linden where 3 men tried to hijack a woman after a chase with the police that started in Robindale. 190208. Picture: Bongiwe Mchunu

Published Jul 15, 2014

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Pietermaritzburg - THREE people were arrested after a neighbourhood brawl over a stolen jacket left one man dead and three injured in Tamboville outside Pietermaritzburg.

Police spokesman, Captain Thulani Zwane, said the men, aged between 22 and 27, would appear in Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court this week on charges of murder and attempted murder.

Relatives of Danisile Mayibenye said they could not believe he was dead.

The 27-year-old, they said, had been killed after an argument on Sunday night over a stolen jacket.

“We want justice for Dani’s murder. These people must not get away with it,” said Mayibenye’s brother, Sive.

Sive said he, his brother and other relatives were sitting outside their home in Shange Road in Tamboville when they saw a man from the neighbourhood who had allegedly robbed Sive of his jacket and cellphone two weeks earlier.

Sive had reported the incident to his parents after it happened and the cellphone was returned to him after the families met to resolve the situation.

When he saw the man on Sunday, he approached him and asked him to return the jacket.

“He started throwing stones at us and we began chasing him. He got away and we went back into our house,” Sive said.

However, that was not the end of the altercation, because the man allegedly came back to confront his pursuers, accompanied by several relatives who were armed with knives, bush knives and knobkieries.

A brawl between the Mayibenye family and the man and his relatives ensued, during which Danisile Mayibenye was stabbed in the head.

Sbulelo Maluka and Bhalisile Maliwa, Mayibenye’s cousins, were also stabbed and taken to hospital.

Maluka has been discharged while Maliwa remains in a serious condition in hospital.

Sive suffered minor injuries and was treated on the scene by paramedics.

“My brother was not a violent person. He liked to have fun. He did not deserve to die like this,” he said.

Daily News

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