A FAMILY from Donsa village in Silobela in the Midlands province is reportedly living in fear of being the next victims after two of its family members were killed by a suspected gold panner, who is now in police custody in Plumtree.
The two were reportedly murdered following a misunderstanding over gold panning.
Matabeleland South provincial police spokesperson Inspector Loveness Mangena could not confirm the arrest.
“We have contacted Mphoengs Police Station and they have told us that they will send the memo today. We want to find out if the suspect is still in custody or is out on bail,” Mangena said.
A family member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Southern Eye that the late Collet Moyo (32) died in 2018 from injuries he sustained when he and Fixon Mkandla (38) were allegedly attacked by the suspect Patson Ncube.
Mkandla, however, died in 2019 following the violent machete attack.
“These people were colleagues in gold panning. They separated following a misunderstanding over their mining activities.
“They went to Mphoengs, where they did some gold panning and a dispute ensued there, leading to a fight, where Ncube attacked Moyo with a machete and left him for dead. Moyo died due to the injuries sustained during the attack.
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“We reported him to the police and he was put on bail. We are now leaving in fear because Ncube has threatened to follow up on all members of the family who tried to intervene to restrain him from the attacks.”
The family member said Ncube had been in hiding after committing the crime until they got wind that he had settled in Mpandeni area in Plumtree, resulting in them teaming up as a family to effect a citizen’s arrest.
“When we got to his homestead, we identified him, but fearing that he could attack, we went to seek the assistance of the police. We understand that he is going to appear in court this week, but he is a threat to our lives as we can no longer move freely,” the family member said.
