Online Reporter
Mthabisi Tshuma,Online Reporter
Grief has engulfed the Madlambudzi community in Bulilima District as five villagers brutally killed by a suspected mentally challenged man last week will be laid to rest at their homesteads on Saturday.
A funeral service will first be held on Friday at Madlambudzi Hall, where government is expected to provide assistance to the bereaved families.
The killings were carried out by Phamani Sibanda (43), who allegedly went on a violent rampage, attacking seven people with a Mopani log, a blunt object and a sharp object.
Five victims died from the savage assault, while two others — a 90-year-old grandmother and a 41-year-old man — were hospitalised. The younger victim has since been discharged, while the elderly survivor, Gogo Mpopoma Ngwenya, remains admitted at Plumtree District Hospital in stable condition. Tragedy deepened as her husband was among those killed.
Bulilima Constituency legislator and Deputy Minister of ICT, Postal and Courier Services, Dingumuzi Phuti, met with Chief Madlambudzi, police, and the bereaved families today to coordinate funeral arrangements.
At one stage, the idea of a shrine for all victims was raised, but families decided that, in line with tradition, the deceased would be buried at their respective homesteads.
The community remains shattered as the countdown begins to a mass farewell for the five lives cut short in a night of horror.
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