Malawian father murdered while house-sitting for friend at Glendale, family attacked by man wielding hammer

A Malawian house-sitting for a friend was murdered and a family attacked by a man wielding a hammer, in a series of crimes that have angered Glendale residents.

Patrick Blaki, a 28-year-old cane cutter from Malawi and father of a 7-year-old girl, was assaulted with a hammer on the head and stabbed multiple times on Saturday night by a group of men who broke into the house that he was looking after.

He was house-sitting for Glendale resident Kopi Mtshali (49) who works in Johannesburg.

“I asked him to come and stay at my house because my house had been broken into two times before while I was in Johannesburg. My heart is shattered because this young man was killed for being in my house,” said Mtshali.

In another incident, the Mlambo family in Glendale were attacked by a man in the early hours of Thursday last week.

According to 29-year-old Nto Mlambo, who was hit with a hammer on her thigh and arm, the man entered their home through a window.

“He went to a room where an 18-year-old teenager was sleeping and he took her cellphones. Then he came into my room. My daughter (9) screamed and I woke up, then he hit me with a hammer on my thigh and arm,” said Mlambo.

The man ran down the passage where he was confronted by Mlambo’s 61-year-old father, who was armed with a spear.

But the older man was overpowered.

Mlambo picked up the spear and struck the intruder on the head many times, while her daughter and another 10-year-old child looked on.

“His balaclava came off and we saw his face. He then pulled out his knife but I kept on hitting him with the back end of the spear. I did not stab him, I was just hitting him so he would leave my dad alone. He ran out of the house and left his hammer and screwdriver on the floor,” she said.

The man was later arrested by police at a hospital in KwaDukuza after he was recognised by Mlambo’s father.

She said the two children were struggling to sleep because of the trauma.

“They want to sleep next to me and insist on holding me. Whenever they wake up, they will scream and ask if it is me holding them. It really breaks my heart to see them in this state.”

Both families have expressed their disappointment at the response of the Glendale police. Both families live less than a kilometre from the police station but they allege the police took an hour to respond.

Mtshali said the people who killed Blaki were known in the community but had not been arrested.

Blaki’s brother-in-law Joe Phiri said the family were heartbroken. They were preparing to transport his body back to Malawi.

Saps had not responded at the time of publication.

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