Johannesburg - The killers of Mozambican national Emmanuel Sithole should receive life sentences, his distraught family members said outside the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
“I am human, but am also used to death. It’s the way that he was killed that almost killed me,” said Sithole’s stepmother Momosebetsi Mofokeng.
“We want a life sentence for these killers.”
The men accused of Sithole’s murder, Mthinto Bhengu, Sizwe Mngomezulu, Ayanda Sibiya and Sifundi Mzimela, briefly appeared in the court in Johannesburg on Tuesday. The four were remanded into custody until they appear again on May 4 for a bail application.
Sithole, 35, was murdered over the weekend in 2nd Avenue in Alexandra. Pictures printed in the Sunday Times newspaper showed three men attacking Sithole, one of them was shown aiming a knife at Sithole’s upper body.
The pictures caused an uproar on social media and many called for the police to hunt down the attackers.
Mofokeng said she was first shown pictures of how her stepson was killed by her 21-year-old son on his cellphone.
“I received a call to watch the news because Emmanuel was hurt. I couldn’t watch in time. My son went onto the internet and found the pictures. I almost died on Saturday,” she said, with tears in her eyes.
Sithole’s cousin, Thando Sithole said Sithole has three children and a wife in Mozambique. Sithole, 35, was a hawker.
“The family in Mozambique is traumatised, especially by the way he was killed,” she said.
She said Sithole was a hard worker.
“He had not found a job yet so he sold cigarettes. He was a hawker like everyone here in Alexandra.”
ANA