Home | News | GUN OWNER KILLED, MAN ARRESTED FOR HIS MURDER

GUN OWNER KILLED, MAN ARRESTED FOR HIS MURDER

30/12/2015 08:49:00 BY KWANELE DLAMINI

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MBABANE – A man of Manjengeni in the Lubombo region has been arrested for allegedly killing the owner of a gun that was used to shoot him in a murder attempt.

This was over his appointment as his father’s replacement as one of the directors of Sivukile Company which deals in sugar cane farming.
Lucas Matimba (32) has been charged with the murder of Simanga Mkhatjwa, who was employed as a supervisor for security guards in one of the sugar farming companies.

The incident happened on August 15, 2015. The suspect alleged that the incident was preceded by a series of attempts to kill him by people he suspected to have been acting on the instruction of his elder brother and sister, who were not happy that he took up their father’s position in the company.
Matimba pointed out four incident

s in which he was allegedly attacked with the intention to have him killed so that someone else in the family would be appointed as their father’s replacement.

He alleged that he reported all four incidents to Tshaneni police, who recorded statements and promised to carry out investigations.
Matimba claimed the suspects were known in the community but the police failed to arrest any of them until they arrested him for the murder of Mkhatjwa. He is presently out on E50 000 bail to which he was admitted by the High Court. The suspect is represented by Martin ‘Internash’ Dlamini.

Narrating the events that led to his arrest, Matima alleged that his siblings tried to remove him from the company but they failed, even after approaching the courts. He alleged that after failing to remove him, they resorted to killing him. He said his role was to divide dividends from the company among his siblings, which he carried out since 2005 after the death of their father. Matimba accused his sister of spearheading the campaign to kill him and that his brother supported her and this has been going on over the years.

According to the suspect, his siblings reside in South Africa and only return to the country to carry out the alleged acts of trying to kill him.
He alleged that in April 2015, he was disturbed by noise outside his house and when he investigated through a window, he saw men who were armed with bush knives and they ran away when they realised that they had been spotted.
The suspect went on to allege that weeks later, he was woken up by unfamiliar noise outside and when he peeped through a window, he saw people sprinkling what he thought was petrol around the house.
He alleged that again the men ran away but his sister remained behind and tried to light a match but failed. Matimba alleged that he called the police who arrived and recorded a statement before taking away containers of petrol and weapons which were left behind by the suspected arsonists.
In June 2015, he alleged that he was shot in the back while walking out two residents of the area, who were watching television in his house. He alleged that his attackers came from behind and caught up with him before he reached his homestead.
“One of the men asked the other if I was the one they were looking for and he said yes. He pulled out a gun and we fought over it. We fell to the ground and continued to wrestle. He managed to shoot me in the back and they left. I tried to scream but failed. I was losing strength and tried to get up. They saw that I was still alive and tried to finish me off. However, they failed because the gun misfired. My sister had joined them then. My wife was in the house and she called the neighbours and my attackers disappeared into the night,” alleged Matimba.
He was rushed to Mhlume Clinic and later transferred to Raleigh Fitkin Memorial (RFM) Hospital where he was admitted. The suspect said before he was transferred to RFM, he was taken to Tshaneni Police Station to record a statement.
He alleged that at the police station, one of his friends berated the desk officer and accused the police of dragging their feet which resulted in him being shot. He alleged that after being discharged from hospital, he stayed away from home and he learnt that the gun that had been used to shoot him had been borrowed from Mkhatjwa. After recovering from the injuries, Matimba said he returned home and spent a week there.