Landlord hacked to death with sickle in KZN, couple on the run
Police are searching for a couple who vanished with their child after a man was brutally murdered.
A man from Shakashead, north of Durban, was brutally hacked to death with a sickle, allegedly by his tenants, on Saturday evening over a dispute.
The Witness reports that, according to Reaction Unit South Africa (Rusa) spokesperson Prem Balram, Dr William Mputhi (33) was attacked by a couple after he confronted the wife about being assaulted by a loan shark over a R750 loan, which the couple failed to pay back.
Balram says the suspects, a husband and wife, had fled the scene moments after the attack and are now being sought by police and Rusa.
“On Saturday, around 11:30, while walking to a local store with his daughter, Mputhi was assaulted by a loan shark. The loan shark was infuriated after a R750 loan was borrowed by Mputhi’s tenants and not paid back,” Balram says.
He adds that Mputhi had stood as guarantor for his tenants, who failed to repay the debt.
Upset that he was assaulted in the presence of his daughter, Mputhi returned home and confronted the female tenant about the repayment, says Balram.
“Witnesses said [the wife] threatened that her husband would kill him. She then locked herself in her room until [her husband] returned that evening.
“At about 18:30, as Mputhi was carrying a cupboard into his home, the couple confronted him on the driveway. The husband allegedly attacked him with a sickle, slashing and stabbing him multiple times in the stomach, chest and ribcage.”
Witnesses reported hearing the man shout that nobody would touch his wife and live.
“The couple then fled with their three-year-old child, jumping over a fence before disappearing. They were last seen carrying the bloodstained weapon,” says Balram.
Mputhi was rushed to a Tongaat medical facility but was declared dead on arrival.
Balram says the couple’s social media accounts were deleted shortly after the murder. Both had moved into the Shakashead property four months ago, the husband working at a towing company and the wife previously residing in Richards Bay.
Rusa is appealing to the public to help trace the suspects.
“Anyone with information on the whereabouts of this couple is urged to contact Rusa immediately,” Balram says.
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