The theft of a television set allegedly led to the death of three Khayelitsha men.
Macassar police said the bodies of Luxolo Mpontshane, 25, Mabhuti Matinise, 20, and Sivuyile Rola, 28, were found on sand dunes in Macassar early Thursday morning.
The men were allegedly kidnapped by community members and tortured for nine hours after they were suspected of stealing a plasma television set.
“When police searched around the crime scene, they found the sticks that had been allegedly used to murder the men.
“A plastic container with clear fluid in it, with a chemical smell, was also handed in as evidence, as it is presumed the men might have been forced to drink it,” police said.
The three men had been allegedly kidnapped at 4pm on Wednesday. They were allegedly beaten and tortured until 1am, they said.
Police spokesman Frederick van Wyk said four people had been arrested on murder and abduction charges.
He said while the motive for the murders was not clear, they were not ruling out the possibility that the men may have been killed in a “vigilantism attack”.
On Thursday, when the Cape Times visited Khayelitsha, where the men lived, their relatives were in their homes, crying and comforting one another.
Mpontshane’s mother, Nokhanyiso Mpontshane, at first refused to speak to the media, saying tersely: “I have nothing to say. I can’t speak yet because my heart is broken.”
But after several minutes blinking back tears, she went on to say that while her son was a “naughty boy”, his behaviour had “changed for the better lately”.
His uncle, Sanele Twetwa, who lived with Mpontshane and identified his body at the dunes, told how a man had come looking for Mpontshane on the day before he was killed.
He said the man had accused his nephew of stealing his television.
“(He) came over to our house and asked Luxolo, ‘When did you steal my TV?’ My nephew then said he had nothing to do with the missing television.
“Luxolo then left but (the man) came back a second time, looking for him,” he said.
Twetwa said he had reprimanded his nephew, who had denied stealing the TV, saying it was a “case of mistaken identity”.
“About a hour later, one of Luxolo’s friends came to me and said (the man) and his sister-in-law had captured Luxolo, (Matinise) and (Rola), took them into his house and was beating them,” Twetwa said, adding that he had alerted the police immediately.
Police had searched for Mpontshane, Matinise and Rola until 11pm on Wednesday, he said.
Twetwa went on to say that after police had spoken to the man who had earlier accused his nephew of stealing the TV, they were told that Mpontshane, Matinise and Rola had gone to Macassar, where police later discovered the three bodies.
At the home of Matinise, Nomvelo Matinise said her brother had taken her old television for repairs on Tuesday.
She said community members could have thought that it was the stolen TV.
“(Mabhuti) put my television in a trolley and went to have it fixed,” said the tearful woman.
Meanwhile, Rola’s aunt, Nothemba Nobanda, said she had learnt of her nephew’s death during the prayer meeting which was held at her house daily.
An emotional Nobanda said she had brought up Rola because his mother and her sister, who lived in the Eastern Cape, could not look after him.
“I don’t know a thing about this television. I am just so shocked.
“I phoned his mom immediately and we will be sending his body back to the Eastern Cape to be buried.” - Cape Times