Online Reporter
Moreblessing Ncube
A MZILIKAZI tout allegedly turned loose change into a life changing nightmare after erupting in a violent rage over a mere R5, leaving a commuter omnibus crew counting wounds instead of coins.
Japhet Nyathi (32) appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Mark Dzira after he allegedly attacked a kombi driver and his conductor when they refused to lend him the tiny amount. The court heard how the single coin sparked a storm of padlocks, knives and blood.
Nyathi was remanded in custody until tomorrow for continuation of trial. He pleaded guilty to attempted murder but told the court he never meant to kill anyone, even though the chaos that followed suggested otherwise.
Prosecutor Jethro Mada said on 6 November around 1PM along Fife Street, Nyathi first approached driver Learnmore Makwana asking for R5. Makwana handed it over, thinking the matter was finished.
But the R5 apparently was not enough to calm the storm.
When Makwana and his conductor Alexandra Sibanda later began loading passengers for a Cowdray Park trip, Nyathi returned demanding more. After being turned away, he reportedly marched off to Engen garage and came back armed with a padlock tied to a string.
The padlock flew. The conductor was attacked. In the frenzy, the weapon smashed into the kombi and broke the headlights, shocking Makwana who reminded the court the vehicle was not even his.
As the conductor fled for safety, Makwana stepped out, only for Nyathi to allegedly stab him three times in the chest with a knife, accusing him of interfering in the dispute.
Makwana told the court he did not even realise he had been stabbed until passengers screamed and pointed out the blood soaking his clothes. He was rushed to the Bulawayo Central Police Station and then to hospital, bleeding heavily.
In his defence, Nyathi claimed he was acting in self defence, alleging Makwana stabbed him in the left thigh. Makwana denied this, saying Nyathi injured himself out of fear that the driver might die.
The court heard that Makwana now struggles to breathe when walking long distances and doctors have ruled the condition permanent.
He said what hurt him most was that Nyathi never paid hospital bills, never visited him in hospital and never apologised.
Makwana asked the court to sentence Nyathi according to the law, telling the magistrate he could never forgive a man who turned R5 into a lifelong sentence of pain.
Bongani Ndlovu