Sakhile Mokoena

Sakhile Mokoena

An Mpumalanga man accused of killing his grandfather and eating his liver will appear in court today on a murder charge.

Wonder Thulane Nyundu, 24, of Mahushu, near Hazyview, told police that his grandfather had asked him to kill him because he was old.

He also claimed that the old man, Ndubaze Nyundu, 63, had instructed him to eat his liver so that he would become "strong and brave".

The accused has been in custody since his arrest in September and he will appear in the KaBokweni magistrates' court.

The old man and the accused slept in one room, and the accused's father slept in another room in the house. On the night of the alleged murder the accused's father heard a loud bang and he called out to the old man.

The accused then apparently appeared with a blood-stained axe and asked him for a cigarette.

The accused's father found bloodstains leading out of the house and he woke other family members and neighbours, who went with him to follow the tracks.

He told police that they heard something being dragged and allegedly saw the accused drop the old man's body and run away.

Police said the old man's chest had been chopped open. A postmortem revealed that his liver was missing.

The accused confessed to striking his grandfather four times with an axe and eating his liver while it was still warm.