• Tweet

DEPRESSING MEMORIES: Noluthando Sikweyiya with a photograph of her slain daughter Yonelwa.

RELATED ARTICLES

• Mom wants justice after child's death
• Church service results in confession and arrest
• Healers slate muthi killings
• Sangoma arrested for raping man
• Muti attacker not yet under arrest
• Holy ground battle
• 'Sangoma' on the run after rape
• Priest arrested for murder of child
• 'Where's the trust money?', muthi survivor asks
• Boy abducted and mutilated in Gauteng

Monde Tokwe of Eden Church, together with his wife Nolufefe, Fundisile Sidumo and traditional healer Vusi Mofokeng, have been charged with the murder of Yonela Sikweyiya in 2010.

Sikweyiya's body was found in a veld in Brackensdowns, Ekurhuleni. All four accused have different lawyers.

Investigating officer Captain Happy Vilankulu of the Hawks told the Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court that Tokwe, 48, began telling them of the devil's powers as soon as they arrived at his house in Mandela Park informal settlement near Katlehong.

"My informer told me that he knew the people who were responsible for the death of the little girl," Vilankulu said.

"He took me to Mandela Park, to a house which belongs to accused number 1 and 2 [Tokwe and his wife]. We knocked on the door and accused number 1 opened the door. I then told him that I had come to arrest him in connection with the Sikweyiya murder case. As I was explaining his rights to him, he said 'Satan is powerful'."

Vilankulu said Tokwe's wife was arrested at the same time.

Asked by prosecutor Sifiso Khumalo what Tokwe meant by that, Vilankulu said he had no idea. He said further that, without any questioning from the police, Tokwe then told the police that he knew what had happened to Sikweyiya.

"I was still a warrant officer at the time and so I handed the suspect to Captain Mthembu, who had accompanied me," Vilankulu said.

He told the court that he travelled great distance s to arrest the other two suspects, Sidumo and Mofokeng.

"Accused 1 then told me where to find accused 3 and we drove with him [Tokwe] to Mthatha as I was not familiar with the place.

"When we arrived, he pointed him out to us but because it was late, we booked him in at the Mthatha police station and drove back with him the following day."

The next stop for Vilankulu and his team of forensic experts was KwaZulu-Natal.

"Accused 1 and 2 also implicated accused 4 [Mofokeng] and we drove with accused 1 to Newcastle where he pointed him out to us.

"When we arrived, we found him throwing bones and consulting with a woman. I read him his rights before arresting him and he was cooperative," Vilankulu said.

During cross-examination by Tokwe's defence attorney Gundo Lidovho, Vilankulu said he had not only relied on information from his informer.

"I had already received statements from witnesses who saw the child going into the accused's house.

"In such a case, we do not just go and arrest somebody, we investigate first.

"So, in this matter, we sat down and from our own investigations and what my informer told me, we felt that we had a strong case."

Judge Piet Meyer presides and the trial continues. - selebim@sowetan.co.za

Comments

• Sign in or sign up to comment

Wed Jun 19 22:57:23 SAST 2013 ::

Aug 7, 2012

guiliano

whats with these so called pastors?
Report Abuse

Aug 7, 2012

MommaC

The Hansie Cronje defence is sooooo last millennium,

Report Abuse

Aug 7, 2012

Kaylae

arrest them and throw the key away
Report Abuse

Aug 7, 2012

Kgaoza606

The only time pastors and sangomas come together is if the pastor wants his church membership to grow, and that's where people are killed for body parts. Talk about using the name of the Lord in vain...
Report Abuse

Aug 7, 2012

Papage

East Rand Pastors neh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, they are so many, doing wrongs
Report Abuse

Aug 7, 2012

ILLUMINATED

2 Corinthians 11

11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
11:15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

Report Abuse

Aug 7, 2012

Mellow

They make me naar hope they rot in jail
Report Abuse

Aug 7, 2012

Limpopoist

Jamaica newspaper English Errrrrr

http://jamaica-star.com/thestar/20120716/features/features2.html
Report Abuse

Aug 7, 2012

eisleben

This is what we simply refer to stupidity of biblical proportions. It is this huge. The floods, the stretch in the deserts, et al. And we expect to send a propbe to mars very soon.
Report Abuse

Aug 7, 2012

eisleben

@Limpopoist - If you are familiar with any work (dub poetry) by LKJ (Linton Kwesi Johnson) you should be able to navigate, with some difficulties through the rest of the article.
Report Abuse

Read all 15 comments