adminSukulwenkosi Dube Plumtree Correspondent
POLICE in Plumtree have launched a manhunt for a herdsman from Bulilima who is suspected to have killed his colleague over $80.
Kholisani Nyathi of Nkayi area battered Nqabutho Sibanda, 25, with a knobkerrie till he died and hid his body in a maize field in a farm before fleeing.
The two were working at Plot 8 Kalanga Farm in Figtree.
Their employer Ananias Khupe discovered Sibanda’s body on Thursday morning after the two men did not report for duty.
Khupe said he had just paid the two their monthly salary of $80 each.
“The two men were working on my farm as herdboys. Their duties included guarding the fields during the night and looking after the livestock. On the day that we found Sibanda dead I had paid the two the previous day.
“On the day I paid them, I left them sitting by the fire and when they failed to report for duty the following morning, I decided to look for them in the fields,” said Khupe.
He said he found Sibanda’s body lying in a pool of blood in the fields but Nyathi was nowhere to be found.
Khupe said when he checked Sibanda’s room, everything was upside down and his money was missing.
“These men rarely quarrelled and they worked well together which left us confused as to why Nyathi would do such a thing,” said Khupe.
Matabeleland South provincial police spokesperson, Inspector Philani Ndebele confirmed the incident which occurred on Wednesday last week.
He said police were still hunting for Nyathi.
“I can confirm that we are handling a case of murder. At the moment we have a suspect who is on the run and we are looking for him.We only have his name and that he is from Nkayi. The now deceased sustained a deep cut on the forehead, a deep wound on the chin and a cut on the right cheek.
“There was a spoor from the shed up to where the body was suggesting that whoever committed the offence dragged the body into the fields in an attempt to hide it,” said Insp Ndebele.
“A bloodstained knobkerrie was also recovered about four metres from the now deceased’s body. The weapon was identified by Khupe and his wife as the property of the accused person which he always carried during their guard duties.”
Online Reporter