Zimpapers Logo

3 men charged, one on the run

Stab knife and victims’ phones found

Trio ‘killed 2’ in Emakhandeni & Hyde Park

Thubelihle Mabhena & Thandeka Moyo Court Reporters
PROSECUTORS say they are ready to solve the puzzle of a string of murders across Bulawayo— including the double killings of a man and his girlfriend last year, whose bodies were found dumped in a drain in Nkulumane.

Yesterday, three men were charged with the couple’s murder. The gang faces two other murder charges, including the stabbing death of a man in Emakhandeni. He was knifed 11 times.

Birthwell Sibanda, 22, of Old Pumula, Webster Ndlovu, 26, of Mabusela Flats and Thabani Lunga, 27, of Mpopoma, are also charged with the murder of a man – the fourth count – near Hyde Park Cemetery.

Bulawayo residents woke up, on April 24 last year, to the horrific double murder of Mthabisi Dube and his girlfriend, Lokukhanya Ncube, whose bodies were discovered in a grass-filled drain at the corner of Intemba and Rangemore Roads in Nkulumane 12.

Ncube had been stripped naked, her hands tied together and the right side of her abdomen was ripped open with a sharp object. Prosecutors say she was gang-raped by the trio.

Dube’s hands and legs were also tied, and he had a deep cut on the neck.

The shock double murder mystery appeared to have gone unsolved, until yesterday when prosecutors charged three men not only with the Nkulumane murders but a string of other killings in the city which were reported just months apart.

Adelaide Chikweshe, prosecuting, told Bulawayo provincial magistrate Sibongile Msipa-Marondedze that Sibanda, Ndlovu and Lunga – brandishing a knife – pounced on the two lovers who were walking in Nkulumane 12 between April 20 and 24 last year.

“The gang produced an Okapi knife and grabbed the two. They tied Dube’s hands from behind with a black shoe lace and his feet with a white nylon string, stabbed him several times all over his body before stealing his cellphone,” said Chikweshe.

She said the gang then took turns to rape Ncube, before stabbing her several times to her death.

“They then dragged their bodies to a nearby drain and fled. The stolen cellphone was recovered from Ndlovu.”

Chikweshe said days later, on May 1 at around 7PM, the gang ambushed three brothers – Herry, Collen and Elvis Moyo – who were walking along Luveve Road to Magetsini Terminus in Emakhandeni.

She said the four murder suspects stabbed Herry 11 times until he died. They allegedly stole Collet’s wallet which had $10 and his ID card.

Elvis, according to Chikweshe, was robbed of a wallet which had $5, a Nokia Asha cellphone and his ID card.

“The brothers tried to escape by running into a nearby maize field but the four robbers followed in hot pursuit and caught up with Herry, stabbed him eleven times on the head, arm, back and elbow leading to his death on the spot,” she said.

The robbers also got away with a shopping bag from the brothers containing grocery items worth $225.

The murder weapon, an Okapi knife, was recovered from Sibanda as well as one of the stolen cellphones, said the prosecutor.

On May 8 at around 1AM, the court heard, the gang pounced on two friends – Mfundisi Makhalima and Cephas Chirongoma – who were coming from Eland Cocktail bar in Old Magwegwe, in the company of Sympathy Siziba, a sex worker.

“Sibanda, Ndlovu and Lunga who were in the company of Edwin Sibanda, who is still at large, pulled up next to them in a Honda Ballade vehicle they were travelling in. Siziba tried to get into the vehicle, but was pulled back by Makhalima,” Chikweshe said.

She said the quartet was angered by Makhalima’s action and got out of the vehicle. They stabbed him several times on his chest.

“Chingoroma tried to intervene and they in turn started stabbing him several times.”

Chikweshe said Makhalima died on the spot while Chingoroma was rushed to Mpilo Central Hospital where he was saved from death.

Birthwell Sibanda is also separately charged with 10 counts of armed robbery and three counts of rape. He has so far pleaded guilty to all the robbery charges but denies rape. His rape trial starts tomorrow.

Sibanda went on a robbery spree in Bulawayo, targeting mostly motorists. He is alleged to have raped three of his victims.

His sentencing on the 10 armed robbery charges was yesterday deferred to a later date.

Magistrate Msipa-Marondedze asked the men to apply for bail at the High Court and remanded them in custody to February 6.