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WANTED LISWATI DIES IN SA JAIL

21/10/2019 01:06:00 BY KHULEKANI NENE

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LOMAHASHA – A man who was on the wanted list of local police has died while detained by South African police.

Jobe Mpendulo Makhubula (38) of Lomahasha area died while in the cells at Mbuzini Police Station, in the Mpumalanga Province of that country, a death certificate issued by the South African Home Affairs department reflects.

Makhubula was wanted by Lomahasha police in connection with the abduction of a 16-year-old schoolgirl of Lomahasha in May this year. According to his family, South African police said Makhubula committed suicide by hanging himself while inside his cell. However, the family suspects that he died from severe beating as there were alleged several bruises and wounds on his body.

The death certificate issued by the South Africa Home Affairs department reflects that Makhubula died from ‘unnatural causes’ on September 29 this year.
His elder brother Sicelo said the family had been informed by people who were detained with Makhubula that he was allegedly beaten severely and he died from his injuries.

“His friend told us that they tried to escape from the police station and the police chased after them and they were re-arrested and brought back to the station. It was on that day that he was (allegedly) severely beaten,” stated Sicelo.
He added that when the family inspected the body during a post-mortem, several bruises and wounds were allegedly visible on the deceased’s body, specifically on the chest.

“When I asked the pathologist about the wounds, he said he knew nothing about them, adding that the body had been brought to him in that condition,” Sicelo added. He further said another reason they believed that Jobe was beaten to death allegedly by the officers was that when they went to apply for the death certificate at the Home Affairs department officials there questioned a lot of things around the death of Makhubula.

“One officer informed us that the pathologist who had conducted the post mortem was not the one who usually conducts post-mortems. Another asked why the post mortem had been conducted on a Friday instead of Thursday, as it is usually the case in that area,” Sicelo said.

The family is planning to take legal action against the South African police.
Sicelo, the elder brother to the deceased, said every human being had a right to live and that nobody had a right to kill another person, even if those people were criminals.

He mentioned that the South African police informed the family that Jobe had been convicted after entering and remaining in that country illegally and that he was awaiting deportation.

He said initially, Jobe had been arrested for allegedly stealing a firearm from a South Africa soldier.
However, he said when Jobe was brought before court, he was only convicted of contravening immigration laws of that country. Meanwhile, Jobe’s family has slammed local police for the manner in which they handled news of his death.

Counterparts

Sicelo, the elder brother, said immediately after Jobe had died, South African police notified their Eswatini counterparts.
However, he alleged that local police did not immediately inform the family.
“We only heard rumours and since I was in South Africa, I tried to get information from his (Jobe) friends,” said Sicelo.

He said when family members asked a local detective why they had delayed in relaying the sad news to the family; the detective allegedly stated that police wouldn’t have contacted the family because it had failed to assist the police when they were searching for Jobe.
He stated that such a statement was grossly insensitive and unprofessional.

However, the police disputed that they delayed informing the family about Jobe’s death. Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati said they immediately informed the family after learning of Jobe’s death through their South African counterparts.

She further advised the family to engage the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation in the event they wanted to pursue the matter.