By Everson Luhanga
An After Tears session descended into ugliness when an argument between two men turned deadly in Tembisa’s Phomolong section on Saturday.
After burying Spamandla Henry Mazibuko, 43, who died from natural causes on Tuesday, mourners went home for an after tears celebration where they could relax and have a drink.
But things turned sour when two men got into a heated argument.
As it escalated, one man died, and the second one – accused of shooting the first man – was set on fire. He is now in hospital under police guard, facing murder charges.
Mazibuko’s family, who thought they were going to say a final farewell, have been left speechless by the horrific events.
Scrolla.Africa spoke to Spamandla’s sister, Sthabile Manyathi, who was at the After tears session after burying her brother.
“I was inside the house on the mattress,” she said.
“I don’t know what the men argued about but all I heard from the house were gunshot sounds and then the screams of people.
“We were all shocked in the house and went out to see what was happening.”
She said what she found were scenes of absolute chaos.
“A man who stays in the same street and came to bury my brother was lying dead in a pool of blood. He was shot three times.”
She was trying to understand what was going on when a group of mourners joined by residents around the area chased down the suspected gunman.
“They apprehended him, beat him up, doused him with paraffin, and set him alight.”
With cheers and shouting, people watched the man burning.
All that he was wearing was burnt.
She said when the burning man saw a police van approaching, he rushed to it, opened the doors herself, and asked the police to drive off with him quickly.
“The time he jumped into the police van, he had no clothes on him and he was badly burnt.”
Police rushed him to Tembisa Hospital. People who have visited the man in the hospital told Scrolla.Africa that it would take a miracle for him to survive the third-degree burns he sustained.
Rabie Ridge police station spokesperson Sergeant Jacob Nhlongo confirmed the incident and said the man is facing murder charges.
Pictured above: The burnt clothes of a suspected murderer
Image source: Supplied
