ZIMBILI VILAKAZI
A man pretending to be a priest has been arrested in Ngwavuma, north of KwaZulu-Natal, following the murder of an elderly woman and rape of her underage granddaughter.
The elderly woman's body was discovered last weekend near a pit latrine toilet, with strangulation marks and gunshot wounds.
The 53-year-old suspect was arrested the same day in Ngwavuma, where he had fled to with the kidnapped grandchildren of the deceased, including the rape victim and a four-year-old child.
A close relative of the deceased said the suspect had been writing love letters to the 12-year-old for some time and inserting chocolate bars in the packages.
"I asked the deceased to reprimand him. But I later discovered that it was still continuing when she (the 12-year-old) called me, telling me it's still continuing and asking to go and live with her father because the 'priest' is still writing the letters," said the relative.
The relative then called the 'priest,' asking him to leave the child alone.
"He didn't deny it," said the relative, about allegations that the man was courting the underage girl.
Later she discovered that the deceased and her grandchildren are missing.
"I called them but couldn't get hold of them. I then sent a relative to go check on them, and they came back with the message that there's no one home and the house is locked."
The following day she went to the property and was met by members of the police who were combing the scene where the deceased body was discovered. Still stunned by the discovery, she received a call from Jozini with the message that the suspect had been caught by members of a community policing forum (CPF) from Ngwavuma, who were later joined by the CPF from Jozini.
"They said he had arrived with the children the previous day and claimed that they are his. With every chance she got, when the suspect had left the room, the 12-year-old kept asking his family member to call her mother."
Allegedly, the family initially ignored her until she revealed that the suspect had kidnapped them.
"That's when the family called the CPF, and that's how the truth was uncovered about him."
The relative said the victim told them the suspect strangled the deceased in front of them, and when he realised that she was dead, he dragged her body near the toilet and shot her, then accosted them at gunpoint and locked the house, and they left.
"What we know is that he had appointed himself a priest of the church he was attending. But he was friends with everybody, and that's why even the deceased considered him as a local friend," said the relative.
The deceased and the rape victim were attending the same church before the suspect arrived and joined the congregation.
The suspect's case was remanded in absentia at the Vryheid Magistrates Court on Thursday, as the man is in hospital, after he was allegedly assaulted by members of the CPF.