The men accused of setting alight a sangoma who was at the time a patient getting treatment for her schizophrenia from a traditional healer in Soweto are now free.
The trial of the Soweto Sangoma commenced yesterday and the families of the accused and the victim were left with starkly contrasting feelings. While the accuseds' families expressed elation at the decision to withdraw the matter, Gogo Jostina Sangweni's family felt their hearts sink as their hopes to get closure diminished right before their eyes.
Read more | ‘We’ll wait even 20 years for justice’ – family of murdered Soweto sangoma accused of witchcraft
Last week, her family expressed their anguish over having to put their mourning process aside while they wait for justice. “There is nothing difficult for us as a family like a court date and having to attend because we relive this nightmare all over again. My wife, kids, and their grandfather are not coping at all, and we seem to be sent from pillar to post. Every day I watch my family falling apart because everyone has their way of dealing with the trauma of losing someone they love so dearly,” Gogo Sangweni's son-in-law and family spokesperson Jabu Magi told Drum.
However, the matter against Collen Sello, Taelo Dipholo and Mothusi Monama, accused of ther the murder of Jostina, has been withdrawn after they briefly appeared at the South Gauteng High Court on Thursday in Johannesburg.
Monama, who was arrested in December after being sought by the police for months, was alleged to be the mastermind behind the murder. He is the owner of the house in which the late Jostina was found hiding in Mapetla, Soweto, where she was sent to seek traditional help from one of the traditional healers around the area.
Jostina was found hiding behind Monama's car in his yard. She was wearing sangoma regalia, and in video footage she is labelled a witch, beaten and spat on.
Monama's co-accused, Collen Sello and Taelo Dipholo, were accused of buying the petrol and setting her alight. Both Collen and Taelo were arrested shortly after the incident which occurred in March last year. They have been in police custody ever since but now they are free men.
Jostina who succumbed to her injuries in hospital in March last year had been diagnosed wiith schizophrenia, according to her family.
Read more | 'She's not a witch, she has schizophrenia' – mental health in spotlight after woman set alight
Jabu, who is adamant about waiting until the law takes its course, told Drum that the family is deeply saddened by the results of the day. They didn’t anticipate such results, and the family is currently going through emotional stress and trauma, and the back and forth of the court is taking its toll on Jostina’s father, children, and grandkids.
"We still need to consult further with the state to further establish their reasoning behind this withdrawal. All I know is that this matter is complicated. We will continue to be patient as a family even if this matter can go back and forth for 20 years, in the end, justice will prevail," he says.
He says they are shocked by this new development because they know without a doubt that the three accused were actively involved in mama Jostina's brutal murder.
"We will be considering other legal avenues because in the end we want justice for mama and we will not rest until she gets it. We will continue to fight for her because she died a painful death, nobody deserves what she went through."
