Canaan Mdletshe and Sowetan Reporter

Canaan Mdletshe and Sowetan Reporter

Five people are expected to appear in the Mount Ayliff magistrates' court in the Eastern Cape today to face a charge of murder after the brutal killing of a 60-year-old woman who was stoned to death last Monday.

Nomanelwa Ngwane was stoned and stabbed with sharp objects before paraffin was poured over her bloodied body by an angry mob who accused her of practising witchcraft.

The accusations arose after she was caught naked by Zakhele Jakuja at his home. Jakuja called his neighbours who then assaulted her. She was taken to Mount Ayliff Hospital, where she died.

Jakuja said he was woken by his dogs. When he went outside to investigate, he was shocked to see the naked woman kneeling in front of his door.

"When I asked her what she was doing there, she told me she had just fallen from her private jet and was there to take me to my wife," Jakuja said.

Jakuja's wife died in August after receiving a call from an anonymous person. Soon after answering the phone, she fainted and died on the spot. Her death was attributed to witchcraft.

Jakuja said the woman, who was rambling on, had told him she had received a call from his late wife who missed him and had sent her to fetch him "because she was lonely".

"I'm still shocked and hope this never happens to anyone," he said.

Police questioned about 85 people on Saturday, but only five were positively identified as the main suspects. Superintendent Nondumiso Jafta of uMzimkhulu police warned the community not to take the law into their own hands.