Online Reporter
Patrick Chitumba, [email protected]
A Gweru man who locked two children inside a hut before setting it alight in a revenge attack — after their mother allegedly accused his parents of witchcraft — has been handed two life sentences.
Abel Mativenga (20), of Mahalape Compound at Watershed Farm, was convicted of murdering Everjoy Mangena (13) and her five-year-old sister, Natasha Kanyama, whose bodies were burnt beyond recognition after their bedroom hut was deliberately torched on the night of August 19 last year.
Passing sentence, Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Munamato Mutevedzi, sitting on circuit in Gweru, condemned the killings as “cruel, calculated and beyond redemption”, adding that the offender had displayed a degree of wickedness that left no room for leniency.
Mativenga, represented by pro deo lawyer Mr Tinashe Makotore, had attempted to argue for a reduced charge of culpable homicide. The court rejected the bid, finding that the murders were premeditated and executed with clear intent.
“The offender carefully thought about how to commit the murders and thereafter meticulously executed his plan. He admitted as much in his warned and cautioned statement,” said Justice Mutevedzi.
The judge highlighted Mativenga’s decision to tie the hut door from the outside before starting the fire as a particularly disturbing act.
“That act alone constitutes unmitigated evil. By doing so, he ensured that the children could neither escape nor be rescued,” he said. Justice Mutevedzi further commended the prosecutor, Mr Michael Mhene, for presenting what he described as a watertight case, successfully proving beyond reasonable doubt that the murders were committed in multiple aggravating circumstances.
He also noted that since the abolition of the death penalty in December 2021, courts have been left with only two sentencing options for murder: life imprisonment or a minimum custodial term of 20 years.
“Before the abolition of capital punishment, this is a case that would undoubtedly have attracted the death penalty. That option is no longer available. In crimes as gruesome as this, the court must emphasise punishment and deterrence. No amount of mitigation can erase the permanent obliteration of two young lives,” the judge said.
Justice Mutevedzi added that offenders who commit such crimes pose a grave threat to society and should be permanently removed from it.
“The offender is reckless, violent and devoid of compassion. There is no other scope of punishment in this case. Accordingly, you are sentenced to two life imprisonments,” he ruled.
According to the State, Mativenga had been drinking beer at Mkoba 6 Business Centre on the evening of August 19, accompanied by his sister, Chiedza Siziba, and a neighbour, Cleopas Moses. During the drinking session, Mativenga reportedly expressed anger towards Sipiwe Machisa — the mother of the two deceased children — accusing her of labelling his parents witches.
“Siziba warned the accused against acting on his anger and attempted to counsel him,” said Mr Mhene.
At around 10pm, the trio left the business centre for home, but Mativenga walked ahead of the others.
Upon arriving home, he asked his father, Samson Mativenga, for a cigarette lighter, claiming he wanted to smoke. Unaware of his son’s intentions, the father handed it to him.
Armed with the lighter, Mativenga went straight to the hut where the two girls were asleep. He tied the door shut with a wire before setting the hut ablaze. “Siziba saw the accused at the hut and shouted at him to stop, but he ignored her,” Mr Mhene told the court.
After lighting the fire, Mativenga fled to a nearby anthill, where he hid and watched as the hut was engulfed in flames. The children died trapped inside the burning structure.
Their remains were later taken to United Bulawayo Hospitals for post-mortem examinations, which confirmed that both victims sustained 100 percent burns. A police report was filed, leading to Mativenga’s swift arrest.
