NOTHANDO MAKHUBELA
MIDDELBURG – The Shabane family can’t hold their tears anymore as they want to see justice served for their kids. The case of the late Gabisile Shabane and her cousin Nkosikhona Ngwenya has been remanded to 4th October until the 12th of November 2021 for trial by the Mpumalanga Division of High Court sitting in Middelburg.
The 13 year old teenager was living with albinism , when Thokozani Msibi , Knowledge Mhlanga ,Brilliant Mkhize and Themba Thubane kidnapped her from home in Hlalanikahle together with her 15 month old cousin Ngwenya in 28 January 2018.
Thokozani Msibi’s third legal aid representative application was granted successful by the Legal Aid South Africa.
The four suspects facing the charges of murder and kidnapping made their second appearance in court. Shabane ‘ s body was reportedly found without a head and buried in a shadow grave in Cullinan in the East of Pretoria in February 2019. Ngwenya was mistaken for his light skinned color and his body was found in a river on the side of the N4 in eMalahleni the same month.
The bodies of Shabane and Ngwenya were aimed to be used for “Umuthi” as the murder suspect Msibi “ Traditional Healer” admitted to court that the body parts of the two children were to save their failing business.
This tragedy incident left and caused too much fear to the people living with Albinism in Emalahleni. During the interview with Timeless News, Tryphina Nhlapho representing Melokuhle Albinism Foundation said “ People with albinism are not feeling safe in communities. We are at the point where we look over our shoulders and in terms of protection. I don’t think we are protected there has not been much news to state that we are targeted or something like that but I feel that protection and otherwise we are not where we can say we are fully protected,” said Nhlapho.
Annah Shabane says the family wants to see all the four suspects rot in jail. “ It is so painful to keep coming to court everyday . We want to see this trial come to an end. We want justice to be served for our children, ” she said.
Out of the four men accused of killing Shabane in January 2018, only Thubane pleaded guilty in June 2019, admitting to the Mpumalanga high court that he was guilty as charged.
It has been reported during court that the fifth accused murder suspect who was reportedly arrested and found with body parts in Swaziland and was expected to be extradited to the South Africa has since pass on.
