‘Zombie’ sentenced to 22 years behind bars
He was taken into a cave by force by a musician who wanted to turn him into a tokoloshe or zombie
Sibusiso John Gcabashe was sentenced to 22 years behind bars for several offences including rape, kidnapping, fraud, assault and attempting to escape from custody.
Gcabashe rose to fame when in 2012 he claimed to be the resurrected maskandi artist, Khulekani ‘Mgqumeni’ Khumalo.
Khumalo died in 2009. Addressing a 30 000 strong crowd in Nquthu in 2012, Gcabashe claimed that in 2009 ‘he was taken into a cave by force by a musician who wanted to turn him into a tokoloshe or zombie along with other people.’
“I was eating mud mixed with milk as to prepare my skull to become soft so that they could hammer it with the nail and were also cutting my tongue,” he told the crowd, adding that is why his complexion and voice had changed. “It was through God’s mercy and the Shembe church that I came to be rescued. Later I was sent to a traditional healer for help,” he added.
Many people believed his tale, including the singer’s wives and grandmother. Others booed. The police then arrested him and charged him for the offences, of which he committed while claiming to be the dead singer.
The story made national and international headlines, with even the BBC reporting on it.
This past week, the Pietermaritzburg Regional Court found Gcabashe guilty and have sentenced him to 15 years imprisonment for rape, 5 years for kidnapping, 7 years for fraud, 1 year imprisonment for attempting to escape from custody and 3 months imprisonment for assault. The court ordered that the kidnapping and assault sentences run concurrently with rape and that the escaping sentence runs concurrently with fraud.
Some of Khumalo’s family said they would appeal against the conviction in the High Court because they still believed Gcabashe was indeed their son.
Gcabashe has remained defiant that he is an imposter, even promising to continue composing music in prison.
