adminSifundiso Ndlovu Chronicle Reporter
PROSECUTORS yesterday charged 11 men with murder after a gold panner was killed following clashes over a disused mine shaft in Hope Fountain last week.Police rounded up the men last Thursday after Langton Ncube, 21, was brutally murdered a day earlier.
Godknows Nzombe, Lungisani Sibanda, Gift Ticharima, Clifford Gudo, Mandla Moyo, Nomore Mike, Muchakagara Zisegwe, Maxwell Mutudza, Kaleb Zisegwe, Dennis Mudlozera and Luwen Takaedza were not asked to plead during a brief appearance before Bulawayo magistrate, Sibongile Msipa.
They were remanded in custody to June 2 and advised to apply to the High Court for bail.
The prosecutor said the 11 suspects surrounded the mine shaft armed with hoe handles, iron bars and barbed wire before ordering Ncube out of the shaft.
When Ncube emerged, he was attacked and fell back into the 25-metre deep pit.
The suspects, it is alleged, then retrieved him. He was bleeding from the nose and had bruises on the mouth, arms and leg. He was also breathing with difficulty.
The postmortem report said Ncube died due to a ruptured right lung as a result of the assault as well as the fall.
Lawyer Costar Dube represented the eleven and told the court that they all understood the charge against them.
The eleven claim they own Six-Nya mine and found Ncube and his colleagues occupying it.
During Ncube’s burial in Hope Fountain on Sunday, locals insisted the mine had no owner.
Resident Mike Ncube said he once mined in the same pit.
“It’s very painful when someone is killed over a disused mine,” he said.
Ncube’s grandfather, Keith Ncube, said his death was “not justifiable”.
“Everyone knows that the mine does not belong to anyone,” he said.
Online Reporter