Three men shot dead at royal kraal
Police arrived and the man surrendered his nine-millimetre pistol and handed himself over. He appeared in the Eerstehoek Magistrate's Court on Wednesday September 9.
Three men were shot dead at the Emanzana Royal Kraal in Badplaas on last Monday. A soon-to-be-appointed traditional leader handed himself over to police after the incident.
According to Const Peace Mbokane of Elukwatini Police Station, the suspect allegedly opened fire with a nine-millimetre pistol on a delegation that had gathered at the royal kraal to present a petition to Prince Makhosonke Dlamini, stating their opposition to the planned appointment.
Jabulani Nkosi, David Mkhaliphi (46) and Themba Nkosi (43) died at the scene.
Last Sunday the Aarhermburg community held a meeting concerning the appointment of the man as a traditional leader.
They tasked eight men with the mission of delivering a petition to the prince.
These eight community members drove to the royal kraal to deliver the petition to Dlamini, who is the chief of Embhuleni Tribal Authority, at 10:00 the next day.
It contained various grievances. They did not want the man to be appointed as their traditional leader because they claimed he had dealt dubiously in distributing plots in the area.
Mbokane said that when they arrived at the royal kraal, the chief was not at home and the option was to deliver the petition to the secretary at Embhuleni Tribal Authority instead. Upon their arrival, they were greeted by the very person they did not want to be appointed as their traditional leader.
He raised his voice and warned them that he hoped his name had nothing to do with their petition. He claimed he had heard that they were plotting against him.
The delegation ignored him and continued to hand over the letter to the secretary, but the man snatched the letter from them and tore it into pieces.
The eight attempted to leave the tribal authority offices to call the local police for assistance.
According to Mbokane this angered the suspect and he allegedly opened fire on the men before they could leave. Two were killed. The others fled the scene and reported what had happened.
Police arrived and the man surrendered his nine-millimetre pistol and handed himself over. He appeared in the Eerstehoek Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday September 9.
He was remanded in custody and police will further investigate the alleged crime. He will reappear in the same court on tomorrow.
The suspect’s house was set alight and burned down last Thursday.
The police are investigating a case of arson. Any inquiries may be directed to Const Peace Mbokane on 017-883-0050.
