By Nomathamsanqa Magwa

AN ANGRY group of people almost burnt a woman to death on Monday night.

They accused her of being a fake sangoma who ruined marriages.

It happened in KwaNobuhle, Uitenhage. Among the crowd were NoAmen Sizila (45) and Nokwanele Ndletyana (50).They shouted: “She must voetsek from our kasi! We don’t want horny sangomas here!”

Nokwanele said she first met the sangoma in 2013 after being introduced to her by her gogo.

“She said she needed a place to live and I felt sorry for her because she had a small child. I let her have an outside room, but she soon started flirting with my husband,” she said.

“She told people I had sex with men in a toilet at my sister’s house in 2015, leading to fights with my husband. I ended up kicking her out of the house.”

NoAmen said she also rented a shack to the woman, who soon started causing trouble. “She told me a tokoloshe wanted to poke me, and my husband would leave me.”

When Daily kasi news tried to talk to the sangoma, she ran away.

Captain Gerda Swart said: “People should be careful of fake sangomas. We also appeal to the residents not to take the law into their own hands.”

By Nomathamsanqa Magwa

XHOSA men don’t eat imiqolo (fish bones) because they believe it is for kids and women.

However, KwaNobuhle men in Uitenhage say they can drink as much as they want because imiqolo helps them to fix hangovers.

The DKTeam caught up with kasi women and men queuing up for the delicious fish at Sisi Fikina’s place.

Thanduxolo Jacobs from Peace Village told Daily kasi news: “I love this fish because it makes me strong after drinking my umtshov’ alale. I used to be dehydrated after drinking it.

“But now I don’t worry anymore about the babalaas. A hot piece of this fish makes the body sweat and get rid of the babalaas. I also buy some of it for my lunch at work and I don’t get tired during working hours.”

“My wife always asks me to bring some of the spicy fish home for her because she also loves it,” he said.

Vusumzi Sowazi (32) said: “Imiqolo is cheap and delicious. When you have no appetite because of babalaas, this is a great starter. In Xhosa culture men are forbidden to eat this kind of fish.”

Aron Xhotyeni said: “According to Xhosa culture, men are not allowed to eat the fish’s back bone. It is for kids and women.” Sisi Fikina Dlanga (53) said: “My customers used to be women and kids but now men have also joined.”

By Daily Kasi News Reporter

The South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) has announced that its beneficiaries would receive their grant money for December on the 28th of November.

“The early December payment should not be seen as a bonus or double payment as it is mainly intended for the convenience of beneficiaries. Sassa does not pay a bonus at all and beneficiaries are paid for twelve months only per year,” Sassa said in a statement.

The agency urged beneficiaries to protect their PIN codes and avoid giving strangers their ID numbers even if they claimed to be from Sassa, as the festive season tends to see an increase in scams to defraud beneficiaries and to be mindful of scams operated through WhatsApp, mobile phone messages and social media.

Beneficiaries are urged to be vigilant at all times and to double-check information, especially if it sounds too good to be true.

The following grant payment will be on the 29th of December.

BY Phumlani Saul

ELIZABETH Dandara (28) normally sleeps until the sun is high, but yesterday morning she woke up very early.

The woman from KwaNobuhle kasi, Uitenhage said she was up early to wash her family’s clothes.

She had barely left her bed when a speeding jikeleza taxi crashed through the bedroom wall!

Elizabeth believes that waking up early in the morning saved her life. Unfortunately, all her family’s food and furniture was damaged.

She said the taxi crashed into her house at about 5.45am, causing the wall to collapse on the spot where she had been sleeping.

“I normally sleep late, but yesterday I was restless, so I got out of bed and started to do my washing,” she said.

“About 15 minutes after I had left my house, I heard my neighbours screaming, some calling my name.

“I was confused and didn’t know what was happening. I then heard a big crash as the wall fell and my house was covered in dust.

“I saw an Opel Corsa at rest in my house.

“I immediately screamed for my two kids and my sister, but they were fortunately asleep in another room.

“The wall that separated my bedroom and the lounge had collapsed.”

She thanked God for saving her life. “If I hadn’t gone outside I would be dead now. I had saved R2 500 with my stokvel for Christmas food, but now it’s all gone down the drain.

“The driver promised to repair the damages. He claims his brakes failed.”

By Phumlani Saul and Lolwethu Leeu

More than 150 people closed Mondile Clinic in Khayelitsha, Uitenhage, on Tuesday morning.

The protesters sang songs and blocked Mondile Street by burning tyres in front of the gates to the clinic which they had locked.

Zimasa Ngxili said, “Patients arrive at this clinic at 7am and are told to go back home at 3pm without being attended to.” Ngxili said this had been going on for three years. He said nurses arrived at 8am and started working at 10am at a started by gossiping.

“They have a complaint box near the door, but it’s a futile exercise writing complaints, because the very same people who read them are these problematic nurses,” she said.

Another Patient, Noluthando Mpazamo,told DK news, “Last month, they told me my folder is missing.”

Community leader Zamuxolo Xoki said, “Today when we arrived, we were sent outside whilst it was raining. The clinic committee said there was no use sitting inside when there is no one to assist us, because our folders are missing.

“We have been told the data capturer is on leave and that there is no clerk in this clinic. In fact, there has been no clerk at this clinic for over more than 15 years,” said Xoki.

Member of the ten-person clinic committee Lindiswa Poti confirmed that the committee had told residents to stand outside. ”We were waiting for the district officials to arrive … Many folders are missing.”

“The district must appoint a clerk … When the district officials arrived yesterday when we called them, they walked past us to a closed meeting with the nurses.

Eastern Cape Health spokesperson Sizwe Kupelo said, “Residents are encouraged to raise their concerns but shutting down services is discouraged. I have requested the district manager to attend to their complaints.”

By Zwadile Bhefile

THE POLICE yesterday surprised shoppers in the supermarket and butchery at Walmer shopping centre, in Port Elizabeth.

People were shocked to find almost half of the staff were bust for not having correct immigration documents!

The drama happened during an inspection by the employment and labour department with police, Sars, municipal health inspectors, National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications, Home Affairs and agriculture departments. Eastern Cape Labour spokesman Mishack Magakwe said they got a tip-off that employers weren’t following labour laws.

“They failed to issue employees with payslips, pay overtime and there were unlawful deductions. Workers weren’t registered for UIF.”

By Lolwethu Leeu

AT FIRST he was a good man – until he moved in.

Portia Magoga (36) from Blikkiesdorp, Uitenhage said from the time her boyfriend started living with her, he became abusive.

And on Sunday, she claims, he burnt down her two-roomed shack.

“I regret letting this man move in with me. My children lost their school uniforms in the blaze. The clothes I’m wearing now were donated to me.”

She met him in November.

“As soon as he moved in, he demanded that I give him my three kids’ grant money. When I refused, he threatened to burn down our shack or kill us.

“I told him to leave because he was making our lives hell, but he refused to go,” she claimed.

When he allegedly set fire to the shack, Portia and her kids were not at home. Now she does not know how to get her life back together.

“I’m unemployed and I don’t know where I’ll get money to buy materials to rebuild my shack.”

The 41-year-old boyfriend was arrested four hours later in a nearby shebeen.

Lieutenant Gerda Swart confirmed the arrest.

“A case was opened and the man was charged with arson and malicious damage to property,” she said.

By Daily Kasi News Reporter

Th

e National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) on Monday welcomed the effective 15-year imprisonment of Zuko Mdingi, 28, for the murder and robbery of his employer following a salary dispute.

NPA Eastern Cape spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said the Tsomo Regional Court sentenced Mdingi to 15 years for murder, 10 years on a charge of robbery with aggravating circumstances and five years for theft.

“Evidence presented in court is that Mdingi was employed as a livestock herder and caretaker at a property belonging to the deceased, Xolisa Makalima (49), who stayed in another property of hers at the same village of Mbeveni in Mthwaku area in the district of Ngqamakwe,” said Tyali.

“On the evening of 27 May 2018, Mdingi went to where Makalima stayed to get his salary but she told him she did not have the money. It is then that Mdingi drew a knife and stabbed the woman before strangling her with a rope. Thereafter, he took her car keys, three cell phones, R60 in cash and clothes belonging to her son.”

Mdingi left for his hometown of Mbizana, where he was arrested, following the discovery of Makalima’s body.

“The cell phones he had stolen were recovered from him, with conversations between him and a sangoma on Whatsapp. In the messages, he disclosed how he killed the deceased and was asking the sangoma to help him evade arrest,” said Tyali.

“The killer initially pleaded not guilty, but changed his plea to that of guilty when he was confronted with the overwhelming and incriminating evidence by prosecutor Ayanda Nkumanda.”

The court ordered that Mdingi’s sentences for the different crimes would run concurrently.

By Phumlani Saul

“DON’T hit me! Please call the cops!”

This was the plea of a man who was beaten up by angry residents on Wednesday night.

It happened after the man, in his 30s, was accused of robbing a woman in Mandela squatter camp in Uitenhage.

The residents beat the man with knobkerries and sticks and threw stones at him before he was rescued by cops.

Robbery victim Nonzukiso Mehlwana (30) told Daily kasi news: “I was walking down the street and the next moment I saw the man flashing a knife at me. He grabbed my bag and ran away. Luckily, people who were sitting outside a shack saw the incident and came to my rescue.

“The thug was caught and beaten by the crowd. He confessed that he and his friends robbed people of their cellphones and sold them for drugs.”

Nkululeko April (22) said: “Last month I was also robbed of my Samsung tablet.”

Police spokeswoman Lieutenant Gerda Swart said: “The suspect was admitted to hospital with serious injuries. He will appear in court as soon as he is discharged.”