3 HOMES TORCHED AT MKHITSINI, FAMILY OF 28 HOUSED AT COP SHOP

NHLANGANO – At least 28 family members had to seek refuge at a police station after they were attacked by community members at Mkhitsini on Wednesday.

The community was initially attacking one David Ngwenya, who was the secretary of the local administration under embattled Chief Mfukama, who killed his nephew. Ngwenya was accused of being an informant of the chief who was found guilty by the court of killing his nephew.
However, there were other allegations regarding his conduct, leading to his attack, which would not be mentioned for now as they had not been proven.

During the attack, three homes belonging to Ngwenya and his two sons were torched by the angry Mkhitsini community members. Ngwenya found himself in the same plight with Chief Mfukama, whose homes were gutted by fire, after which he was expelled from the area. Sources alleged that he was still informing the chief about matters that were happening at Mkhitsini, yet they wanted a total disconnect from him as well as other people who were connected to him.

On the day of the attack, it was said that some community members were praying in the mountain, after which they convened a meeting about Ngwenya’s conduct in the community. They shared that in that meeting, it was resolved that he was supposed to be chucked out of the community. The community then headed to his home after their meeting.

It was said that one person raised the alarm and alerted the Ngwenyas who ran into hiding as soon as they received the warning. Upon arrival, the community members are said to have searched for him in nearby forests. By then, it was said that a convoy of police cars had arrived in the community to restore peace and order. It was gathered that some of the Ngwenya family members were able to go into their homes to grab some clothing, in the presence of the police.

“Police then left with them, but just as they had driven about 500 metres away from the homes, the houses were all set alight,” narrated the source.
It was said that one house in Ngwenya’s home had been initially targeted, though they ended up torching all the others. The family members spent the night in one of the police stations for safety reasons. Yesterday, police went back to Mkhitsini to investigate the crime.

Police

It was established that police recorded statements from different people around the community before heading back. When called for comment, Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed the arson incident. She further confirmed that there was a family that was attacked at Mkhitsini and police officers took the family members to safety. When asked if there were any arrests, Vilakati responded to the negative and stated that they were still investigating the matter. This is the second arson incident to happen at Mkhitsini. In the first incident, the community members torched Chief Mfukama’s home after he shot dead his nephew. They were initially in fields disputes, which was when the later was shot dead on the spot.

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