Johannesburg - A man in a rage allegedly hunting down his cheating girlfriend in another man’s house was hit to death with a garden spade in full view of onlookers.
Residents of Rietvlei Extension 2 near Kagiso on the West Rand were awakened by a popping sound around midnight on Saturday.
When they went to investigate, they found a man with a weapon that looked like a sharp piece of steel in his hand.
He was yelling for his girlfriend to come out of the house, according to a witness, and broke many windows of the four-room RDP house.
When the owner of the house finally came out, the man allegedly struck him twice on the shoulder with the instrument.
But the homeowner overpowered him, reaching for a garden spade with which he struck him several times on the forehead.
“He fell and died,” Liver Dlamini said, identifying himself as the homeowner’s uncle.
“He got what he deserved. You cannot disrespect another man in his house. I would have done the same. In fact, I would have burnt his body,” Dlamini added.
He said his nephew lived with a Malamulele, Giyani, woman, who visited occasionally.
“They were not married, they just lived together sometimes.”
Tenants renting a shack in the yard were still traumatised and could not speak to The Star.
The woman at the centre of the alleged love triangle fled to a neighbour’s house late on Sunday, after Dlamini shouted for her to leave his nephew’s home as she was a troublemaker.
“She was cheating, she must go back where she comes from,” he said.
The neighbour who took the woman in after she was chased out by Dlamini said: “All I know is that she has been through a lot because we have known her for some time. But I don’t know what she has done to the man.
“We must give her space for now, and let the police do their work.”
She declined to reveal the woman’s identity.
Traces of blood were visible on the kitchen door as a group of about 10 people deliberated outside, with curious onlookers keeping watch.
Police spokesman Warrant Officer Solomon Sibiya said the homeowner was arrested, and confirmed that a case of murder was being investigated.
“The suspect was arrested and the deceased was certified dead on the scene.
“The suspect has been charged with murder and will appear in the Kagiso Magistrate’s Court soon,” Sibiya said.
The Star