BREAKING NEWS: Murder suspect killed in lynching attack

The man suspected of luring and murdering seven-year-old Lenathi Sfundo Mkhize in the Ezinketheni informal settlement near Copesville in Pietermaritzburg over the weekend was reportedly attacked and killed by community members late on Sunday night.

The witness confirmed the lynching incident through Sham Govender, Chairperson of the Community Policing Forum, and Mthandeni Zikhali, SGB Chairperson of Umsilinga Primary School.

The suspect, whom Mkhize’s father William Rutambo considered a family friend, is said to have lured the boy to his rented hut in the same area and killed him last Thursday.

Mkhize, a second-grader at Umsilinga Primary School near Copesville, was found dead in the suspect’s rented shack. He was lying face down with his hands and feet bound with a jacket. He had a stab wound to his left shoulder and was also strangled.

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Zikhali, the school’s SGB chairman, said local residents heard that the suspect arrived at his hut on Sunday evening. Community members then arrested him but when he tried to escape, they threw stones at him.

The area is rocky and steep, and when he tried to walk down the hill, he fell and was stoned to death by community members.

“At first, people wanted the suspect to be arrested so that he could give reasons why he had to kill the child, but because it was night and they knew his character, the community members attacked him. We heard that he was thrown out of his parents’ house because of his bad behavior and that is why he ended up in a rented hut,” Zikhali said.

Mkhize’s father said he was not happy about the suspect’s death, saying he still needed answers about his “evil” act.

The witness is still waiting for a statement from the police regarding the incident.