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MAN (60) HACKS WIFE TO DEATH OVER CATTLE

09/03/2022 09:02:00 Nhlanganiso Mkhonta

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NHLANGANO – In less than a month and while the country commemorated the International Women’s Day yesterday, a fifth woman has died, allegedly at the hands of someone who professed to love her.

Mbowane residents in the Shiselweni Region learnt with shock about the incident of a 60-year-old man who allegedly hacked his third wife (36) to death. This gruesome murder of a woman is the fourth gender-based violence (GBV)-related murder in the Shiselweni Region within a period of less than a month. The fifth incident happened in northern Hhohho last month. The recent incident happened on Sunday afternoon at around 2:20pm, but it started making the rounds yesterday morning. For the better part of the day yesterday, residents lamented the sad situation that seemed to have befallen the Shiswelweni Region when it came to GBV-related matters.

Arguing

According to sources close to the matter, the couple started arguing during the day over a herd of cattle. It was gathered that the bone of contention was that some years ago, the man pointed out one cow to be taken to his wife’s parental home as the customary ‘insulamnyembeti’. However, due to unforeseen reasons, the cow was never delivered to the wife’s parental home and remained at the couple’s home for many years. It was gathered that over the years, the cow reproduced and the wife was of the belief that the calves belonged to her or her family.

The sources revealed that the man was not pleased with the fact that the wife was claiming that the livestock from the initial first cow belonged to her. He is believed to have confronted her about her ‘claims’, something which led to a heated confrontation. It was said that the argument over the herd of cattle escalated to a physical fight, which ended up deadly as the man got hold of a bush knife and allegedly used it to hack his wife several times all over the body, inflicting wounds from which she is believed to have died. It was further gathered that the spine-chilling incident happened in full view of the couple’s young children, who were roaming around the yard when the incident happened.

Chief Police Information and Communication, Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati, confirmed the incident, stating that the suspect had since been arrested. According to sources within the law enforcement agency, the suspect is expected to appear at the Shiselweni Magistrates Court today. The sources said upon his arrest, the man wanted to make a confession before a magistrate yesterday but his lawyer advised him otherwise. This gruesome murder of a woman comes shortly after five other women died in a space of less than a month, mainly in the Shiselweni Region. On February 9, Nhlangano NERCHA Manager Sharon Neves was allegedly killed by her boyfriend Zwelibanzi Simelane, who is currently behind bars. This incident occurred at Nkhanini Township on the outskirts of Nhlangano Town. Another woman was stabbed to death allegedly by her former lover at Phola on February 11. The suspect was subsequently killed by a mob that heard about the murder and pursued him.

Another gruesome murder of a woman allegedly by her lover occurred at Makhwelela area on February 26. In this incident, the fight ensued over E50 that the man (Sifiso Vilane) had asked from her girlfriend, Bongiwe Dlamini. Vilane was also arrested for the murder of Dlamini and he is still behind bars. In northern Hhohho, a man was also killed by a mob after he allegedly murdered his lover who had dumped him. Now, the murder of the wife whose name is known to the publication but will not be revealed as the suspect is yet to make a court appearance, is the fifth one in less than a month.

Reasons

This murder happened just a few days after the different stakeholders in the Shiselweni Region hosted a Men’s Talk Conference in a bid to address the reasons why men were killing their loved ones so much of late. One of the stakeholders that participated during the conference was Nhlangano Town Council, which sponsored it with E20 000. Yesterday, Nhlangano Town Clerk Babsy Mavuso was sought for comment on this recent murder at Mbowane area and he expressed shock about the incident. Mavuso said it was unfortunate that the incident happened just when the region wanted to stand up and fight GBV. He said the conference they held last week was not the last campaign they wanted to have in the region as they wanted an end to GBV.

Another stakeholder that participated in the conference was the Nhlangano AIDS Training Information and Counseling Center (NATICC) and its Executive Director (ED) Sisekelo Nzima lamented that the incident happened at a time when the world at large was celebrating International Women’s Day, stating that in fact, the whole of March was about celebrating women. He said it was a pity that as a region, they had just started to stand up to address the issues of GBV. Nzima said as a region, they were in a quest to find out the reasons behind GBV, but it was clear that men were not coming to the party in the fight against this scourge since such incidents seemed to continue unabated. The director pleaded with men that violence was not an answer but communication was the solution to whatever misunderstanding that they may have in their relationships.

Killing

He further pleaded with community leaders, chiefs and their inner councils to speak to their male subjects on the issues of killing their wives. He said the issues of GBV should be addressed during the community meetings and as NATICC they had opened their doors to be invited to such gatherings in order to talk about GBV-related matters. 1Billion Raising’s Africa Regional Coordinator Colani Hlatshwayo said it was a pity that on this day, when the world was supposed to be celebrating the achievements of women, some were being killed. Hlatshwayo said the abuse against women was also playing a part in women not rising up to certain challenges because whenever they stood up for their rights, they were abused or even murdered.

She said what was happening in the Shiselweni Region was unfortunate and it needed all stakeholders to stand up and intensify their engagements against GBV. Hlatshwayo said it was high time government declared GBV a national emergency and further invested in programmes that sought to fight it. Shiselweni GBV Activist Ntombi Dlamini wondered why government was not declaring GBV a national emergency because clearly it was now a pandemic.

Unfortunately

Swatini Action Group Against Abuse (SWAGAA) Director Nonhlanhla Dlamini also stated that the incident happened at a time when women were supposed to be celebrated, but unfortunately they were murdered. Dlamini said in as much as the GBV related murders were happening countrywide, but what was happening in the Shiselweni Region was now alarming. She said clearly there was a need to find out what was the root cause of such anger among men in the region of late. She said it was a pity that the killing of women had become a norm, whereas it was a painful thing. She also encouraged communication among couples whenever they had issues or rather break-up in case those issues were unresolved because killing each other was not a solution but rather brought pain to the families and society at large.