Canaan Mdletshe

Family members of a 37-year-old man who was hacked to death with a bush knife on Saturday morning now fear for their lives.

Sipho Bhekuyise Tembe of the Mfekayi reserve in Mtubatuba, northern Zululand, was attacked and killed in his sleep.

His attackers hacked him in the face and head. Relatives had to put together pieces of his jaws that were lying next to the body.

His mother, Janet Mbuyazi, said they were asleep when the incident happened.

Speaking to Sowetan yesterday Mbuyazi said she was very hurt by the way her son was killed. She said she did not know how she would raise Tembe's three children.

"I was asleep when I heard noises but never suspected it was my son being murdered," Mbuyazi said.

"The first I knew about it was when my daughter came to inform me that he had been brutally murdered.

"He had been hacked to death and was lying in a pool of blood. It was a most gruesome sight."

Tembe's younger sister, who refused to give her name because she fears for her life, said she heard someone breaking down her brother's door.

"A short while later I heard him screaming for help," she said. "I peeped through the window and saw someone with a torch running towards the fence.

"I did not dare leave my room and had to wait for morning before  going to wake my mother up

"Blood was all over . I don't know what kind of a human being can do such a thing to another human being.

"We now fear for our lives. We don't know if the killer or killers will come for us."

Local councillor Zakhele Nyawo expressed shock and disgust at the incident. He said he was shocked by the cruel manner in which Tembe was killed.

Captain Jabulani Mdletshe confirmed the incident.