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'man goes wild and stabs 3 over lover'

SAFE HANDS: Maria, Margaret's mother, with the children. Pic. 28/08/2008. Unknown
SAFE HANDS: Maria, Margaret's mother, with the children. Pic. 28/08/2008. Unknown

McKeed Kotlolo

McKeed Kotlolo

Police have launched a manhunt for a senior official in the Department of Labour who allegedly went on rampage, stabbing two women and one man two weeks ago.

The official, identified as deputy director of media liaison in the department Musa Brighten Sithole, 39, allegedly stabbed Margaret Kolobe, 22, mother of a four-day-old baby and wounded Gabisile Kolobe, 19, in the left breast and arm. A man, Themba Mahamba, was stabbed in the armpit.

The official is likely to be charged with attempted murder and kidnapping.

The incident took place on August 15 when an apparently furious Sithole went to look for his girlfriend, who had gone to visit her parents.

In the process he allegedly kidnapped sickly Nhlanhla Mnguni, 20, and Given Mnguni, 14. He left Nhlanhla at her grandmother's place and took Given, who was still in his underwear, to KwaZulu-Natal.

A day later the official allegedly gave Given R230 before taking him to the taxi rank and forced him onto a long-distance taxi to Park Station in Johannesburg.

At Park Station the boy then boarded another taxi that took him to Mamelodi. Mpumalanga police then fetched him from the Mamelodi police station later that day.

Family members said Sithole scaled the locked gates at his girlfriend's parents' home, kicked the door open and stabbed Themba Mahamba with a knife while other family members managed to escape unharmed.

He then grabbed Nhlanhla, a kidney patient, threw her over the fence into a waiting car and instructed her to take him and his friend to her grandmother's house.

Nhlanhla said: "We found the gate locked and he threw me over the fence and followed me.

"He kicked the door open and came face-to-face with Margaret carrying her four-day-old baby.

"He stabbed her several times in the chest with the baby still in her arms and went on to attack Gabisile, stabbing her in the breast and arm."

Captain Leonard Hlathi of Mpumalanga organised crime unit said they were hot on the heels of Sithole and appealed to anyone with information regarding his whereabouts to contact either him on 084-597-0809 or Captain William Gcabashe on 082-319-3481.

A spokesman for the Department of Labour declined to comment, but Sithole's workmates said he was last seen at work two weeks ago.

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