Drunk's singing ends in rap
Nkosana ka Makaula
Nelspruit - A man who liked to sing after a few drinks did not know how much his singing annoyed his neighbour.
That was until September 2004, when Abednego Sithole was beaten to a pulp.
Two months later, he was stabbed in the street and left for dead.
On Monday, his neighbour, Pedro Msimanga, 42, of Mataffin, outside Nelspruit, pleaded not guilty in Nelspruit regional court to a charge of attempted murder.
He said he had acted in self-defence.
Sithole's girlfriend at the time, Meisie Shongwe, testified that Msimanga had been complaining about Sithole singing when he got drunk.
In September, Msimanga allegedly came into the yard and found Sithole singing under a tree.
Sithole was sjambokked and punched so severely that he could not go to work for two months. But, Sithole did not press any charges.
Before he could return to work, however, he was stabbed.
Was stabbed seven times
Msimanga testified that Sithole confronted him when he was coming home from work and told him it was "payback time".
He said Sithole stabbed him the head, so he grabbed the knife and stabbed him back, in self-defence.
Sithole was stabbed seven times, including near his scrotum. Msimanga said he had the knife in his hand for less than five minutes and he was unable to say how many times he stabbed Sithole.
"Nobody stabs another more that three times in self defence," said prosecutor Vusi Segodi. "You just hated your neighbour".
The case was postponed to August 17. Msimanga is out on R500 bail.
News source: www.news24.co.za
Posted by: www.SouthAfrica-CarHire.com
