Mahachi’s grandmother testifies

Mashudu Mambo and Lorraine Mathe 

SADNESS enveloped the gallery when footballer Kudakwashe Mahachi’s 82-year-old grandmother testified in his attempted murder trial yesterday.

Mahachi is on trial for the alleged attempted murder of his son.

Testifying before Bulawayo regional magistrate Mark Dzira, Mahachi’s grandmother, Julian Ntuli, said she was pained by her great grandchild’s condition.

“I was filled with pain when I saw the child’s condition. 

“The house was smelling and I enquired about the whereabouts of the child’s mother. 

“I asked the girls to call her and I called her to the house. 

“When she arrived, it was already late for us to go to the hospital, and we went the next day,” she said.

She said Mahachi and his wife Rose only sent R600 for them to take the five-year-old boy to hospital.

“I called Mahachi and told him that the child was supposed to go to the hospital and he said his wife Rose was going to send R600 to take the child to the clinic.

“I then suggested that we take the child to Mpilo Central Hospital, but Mahachi said he wanted us to go to the clinic in Mpopoma.”

Ntuli said when the child was taken to the clinic, nurses called an ambulance to take him to Mpilo Central Hospital.

“I observed that the child was seriously injured. 

“He had serious burns on the left and right side, especially on the thighs and right leg,” she said. 

The child’s mother, Maritha Ndlovu, told the court that she had been blocked on social media by Mahachi, and his wife, after her child was taken to South Africa. 

She said when the child returned from South Africa on April 14, she was not informed about his return until she received a call from Mahachi’s grandmother, informing her about the child’s condition.

“When I got there, I found the child lying on the sofa with bandages on his head and legs, and his body was swollen, “ she said.

She added that the child also had wounds on his stomach. 

Some wounds were fresh while some had healed. 

The matter was deferred to September 13 for continuation of trial.

Allegations against Mahachi assaulted his son with an iron bar on the head and mouth. 

He further scalded him with hot water all over his body and assaulted him with a charger cable all over the body.

As a result of the alleged assault, the boy sustained burns and injuries all over his body. 

Acumen Khuphe appeared for the State.