Bongani Mlanjeni (68) from Ntshele locality in Mthatha said his life will never be the same, as the image of pieces of his son’s body, Andile Mlanjeni (38), keeps appearing when he tries to sleep at night, making it difficult for him to rest since the incident occurred recently.
Body parts of Andile were found burnt in the yard of his neighbour, Siphenathi Gqira (31), who was last seen leaving a tavern with him on the night he disappeared. He was laid to rest at his home in Kwa Ntshele locality last weekend.
“It was hard for me to watch officials from Forensic Pathology collecting his remains in front of me, knowing that he was my son, whom I was still hoping would be the one to bury me one day. I still do not believe that he is no more. He was a dedicated person who loved his family.
“When he disappeared, we thought he had gone to his piece job, but we were shocked when we received a call from the neighbours saying we must rush to the scene. I never pictured myself witnessing such a traumatising thing one day. Seeing his body parts was very traumatising to the extent that I cannot sleep at night,” he said.
He added that some of his neighbours had taken several days before they could eat because of the image they saw on that day.
The friend of the deceased, Asivile Tuswa (32), said he is one of the people who went to look for him at the accused’s house after they noticed they had not seen him around for a couple of days.
“We became worried because the person (Gqira) he left the tavern with was known to our community, but we did not know him that well. We decided to go and look for him at his homestead. When we arrived, the door was closed and there were blood stains on it. We shouted, calling Andile’s name, but there was no response. I rushed to check the toilet — I could not believe my eyes when I saw a lot of blood and Andile’s clothes, including his hat, next to it.
“I called the other people I was with to come and see. When we looked further, we saw his body parts burnt in the yard, not far from the toilet. I am one of the people who first saw his lower body and other parts, including ribs and backbone, but the head and arms were missing. All these parts were burnt. Ever since then, I have not slept at night; I have thoughts that have no answers. It is hard to believe that he is no more, especially as he was my close friend. Even on the day he went missing, I was with him, but I left him in the tavern with other people and Gqira,” he said.
According to his cousin, Mandilakhe Twazi, Andile was allegedly drinking alcohol with his friends in one of the local taverns when he disappeared on the night of the incident.
“It is alleged that he went with Gqira, but they do not know what happened after that. After three days, they (his friends) noticed that they had not seen him for a long time, so they decided to look for him. They allegedly went to his (Gqira’s) homestead and found the door locked but with some blood stains. They went to check the outside toilet and found some of his clothes and his hat, and there was a lot of blood in the toilet,” said Twazi.
“After I heard this, we called the police, who came and assisted us. I decided to call Gqira, but he lied, saying he was in a nearby tavern. When we went there, we did not find him. After we managed to trace him, we told the police officers, who accompanied us, to find him in one of the taverns at Mqanduli. Police found a bush knife and a knife on him.”
Twazi said they will never forget this pain because his cousin was not a problematic person. He said they still do not believe that he is no more. “We appeal to our justice system to be on our side and ensure that the perpetrator rots in jail.”
Spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Luxolo Tyali, confirmed that Siphenathi Gqira (31) briefly appeared before the Mthatha Magistrate’s Court in connection with murdering Andile.
