Zimpapers Logo

Mashudu Netsianda, Senior Court Reporter
FOUR members of the neighbourhood watch committee, among them a prison officer, have appeared in court for allegedly fatally assaulting a suspected thief in Bulawayo’s Cowdray Park suburb.

Simbarashe Kanhukamwe (26) who is a prison officer stationed at the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS) Ntabazinduna Training Depot, Menelisi Moyo (24), Jambo Ndebele (24) and Prynate Ndlovu (29) all from Cowdray Park appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Ms Adelaide Mbeure facing murder charges in connection with the death of Nkosilathi Ngwenya (23) of Njube.

They were remanded out of custody to January 9 on $100 bail each.

As part of the bail conditions, they were ordered to report once a week at Luveve Police Station and not interfere with State witnesses until the matter is finalised.

They were also ordered to reside at their given addresses.

Prosecuting, Mr Mufaro Mageza said on December 21 at around 1.30AM, the accused persons were patrolling some sections of Cowdray Park when they spotted an angry mob of residents chasing Ngwenya whom they accused of stealing a water tap from one of the houses in the suburb.

The accused persons allegedly joined the mob in the chase and apprehended the suspect. They stripped him naked before allegedly attacking him until he lost consciousness.

“They apprehended the deceased and started assaulting him with sticks, sjamboks and switches. They kicked him all over the body and left him for dead at an open space between Ngozi Mine and Cowdray Park,” said Mr Mageza.

The court heard that the following morning at around 6AM, the deceased was found lying unconscious in a maize field and he was taken to Mpilo Central Hospital where he died upon admission.

According to a postmortem results the cause of death is poly trauma and assault.

A report was made to the police leading to the arrest of the four accused persons.

One of the suspects, Nkosilathi Mkhwananzi is still at large.

– @mashnets