Sometimes a murder results in more than one victim….
I previously reported on this case in my June 17 posting, ‘Suspected ritual killers in first court appearance‘. Below some more information on this grisly ritual murder. Of course, I offer my condolences to the victim’s parents and other relatives. However, I also pity the murderer’s relatives, who will have to live with the crime committed by their relative, son, brother, cousin. The father of one of the suspected murderers speaks out in two articles which have been reproduced below (webmaster FVDK).
Dad opens up on ritual killer son
Published: June 13, 2020
By: Chronicle – Zimbabwe -Temba Dube, Deputy News Editor
THE father of a 20-year-old man who allegedly killed a 25-year-old woman in Bulawayo, dismembered the body and put the remains in a drum filled with acid, yesterday opened up about the grisly ritual murder.
Tawana Ngwenya was arrested in Harare on Thursday as a suspect in the brutal killing of Ms Thabelo Mazolo.
Her body was cut in half and the lower part has not been located.
The breasts and palms had been sliced off.
The rest of the body was stashed in a drum in a toilet at a guest house where she worked and lived with Tawana and his father Mr Buzwani Ngwenya (60) who was the caretaker.
The community around Fortunes Gate in Matsheumhlophe where the murder occurred continues to express disbelief and horror at the callous killing.
Tawana allegedly acted on the instructions of a South Africa-based sangoma to kill Mazolo, so he could get rich.
Colleagues alleged they saw a message on his phone instructing him how to sell his soul for riches in a blood ritual that involved killing and mutilating Mazolo.
It is suspected Mazolo could have been killed between 29 May and 1 June when she went missing.
On 1 June Mr Ngwenya received a message from Mazolo’s phone informing him she would be away for a week.
Tawana fled to Harare on Tuesday when his father continued asking him about Mazolo’s whereabouts.
Mazolo’s uncle Mr Benny Moyo yesterday said she would be buried at her rural home in Zhombe tomorrow.
“The family will discuss the way forward in Zhombe,” said Mr Moyo.
Tawana is expected in the city today to assist police with investigations.
The elderly Mr Ngwenya yesterday said the day he heard his son could have committed the heinous act destroyed him.
“He was a quiet young man and seemed to be in good books with Thabelo. She would call him for assistance whenever she was in town on business. They appeared to get along very well. I’m crushed to learn he could have killed her in this beastly manner,” said Mr Ngwenya.
He said he has been seated at a shopping centre in the city the whole day as he could not process what his son had done.
“I am afraid to even approach Thabelo’s family but we obviously have to meet over this at some time. I need some respectable people to accompany me to talk to them. These people have been very good to us.
“I do not know what evil spirit possessed him to do this,” said Mr Ngwenya.
“Imagine we were looking for her and he was assisting us yet he could have known she was already dead. I feel like I’m losing my mind.”
He said his son had few friends and he could not imagine which one of them had initiated him into satanic rituals to kill people.
Neighbours said Tawana was soft spoken, polite and always smartly dressed.
They said there was nothing in his behaviour that showed he was capable of hurting another person.
“He was a smart formal dresser. He never wore casual stuff like jeans. He worked at a company that sells chemicals and was known for selling detergents in the area. He looked like a focused young man. I cannot believe he committed this cold-blooded killing. I guess the quiet ones always shock us,” said a neighbour on condition of anonymity.
Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube yesterday said investigations were still in progress.
“The suspect will be here tomorrow to assist with further investigations,” he said.
Tawana did his O-levels at Allan Wilson High School in Harare.
He was said to be an average student who stayed out of trouble.
Source: Dad opens up on ritual killer son
Related article:
He Was A Quiet Young Man – Father Of The 20 Year Old Bulawayo Ritual Murderer Opens Up
Published: June 13, 2020
By: Pindula News
Mr Buzwani Ngwenya the father of 20-year-old Tawana Ngwenya who is alleged to have brutally murdered Thabelo Mazolo, and mutilated her body and cutting off palms and breast before stuffing her body into a drum of acid under the instruction of a South African based traditional healer in a get rich quick ritual has opened up about the shocking gruesome murder committed by his young son, The Chronicle reports.
Speaking to the publication, Ngwenya said:
He was a quiet young man and seemed to be in good books with Thabelo. She would call him for assistance whenever she was in town on business. They appeared to get along very well. I’m crushed to learn he could have killed her in this beastly manner.
I am afraid to even approach Thabelo’s family but we obviously have to meet over this at some time. I need some respectable people to accompany me to talk to them. These people have been very good to us. I do not know what evil spirit possessed him to do this.
Imagine we were looking for her and he was assisting us yet he could have known she was already dead. I feel like I’m losing my mind.
Neighbours who also spoke to the publication about Tawana also said he was polite, respectfully and a soft-spoken young man who was always formally dressed:
He was a smart formal dresser. He never wore casual stuff like jeans. He worked at a company that sells chemicals and was known for selling detergents in the area. He looked like a focused young man. I cannot believe he committed this cold-blooded killing. I guess the quiet ones always shock us.
The Allan Wilson schooled Tawana will be transferred to Bulawayo where he will assist the police with investigations, while his unfortunate victim Thabelo Mazolo will be buried in Zhombe tomorrow.
Source: He Was A Quiet Young Man – Father Of The 20 Year Old Bulawayo Ritual Murderer Opens Up
Another related article:
Grisly ritual murder in affluent suburb
Published: June 12, 2020
By: Chronicle – Zimbabwe -Temba Dube, Deputy News Editor
IN a bizarre suspected ritual killing, a 25-year-old woman was sawn in half and part of her body was mutilated and stashed into a drum filled with acid in Bulawayo.
Part of the body, from the waist going down, is still missing while breasts and palms appeared to have been sliced off.
Police yesterday arrested a suspect, Tawana Ngwenya (20), the son of a caretaker where the woman lived. He was arrested in Harare where he had allegedly fled.
Tawana allegedly had a message from a sangoma based in South Africa which instructed him on how to kill Ms Thabelo Mazolo so he could get rich.
Mazolo’s sister secured employment for Ngwenya at a company in Bulawayo and he was staying in Matsheumhlophe suburb at a guest house where Mazolo worked, with his father Mr Buzwani Ngwenya (60) who was the caretaker.
“You must cut yourself and spill your blood onto a mirror. Gaze into the mirror and say out loud that you are selling your soul for riches. After that you must open the door for my boys to go out,” read part of the message that allegedly had additional instructions on rites that Ngwenya was supposed to perform on the body.
Sources who told the Chronicle about the message said they freaked out and have not been able to eat or sleep, since the body was discovered on Wednesday morning.
Mr Ngwenya said Mazolo moved to Bulawayo from Harare just before the national Covid-19 induced lockdown.
He last saw Mazolo alive on May 29 when she said she was visiting someone in Sizinda suburb.
On June 1, he received a message from Mazolo’s phone informing him she would be away for about a week.
Tawana told him she could have visited friends after he discovered she had not been home since May 29.
He said Tawana disappeared from home on Tuesday when he asked him if he knew Mazolo’s whereabouts and he switched off his phone. “Thabelo’s phone had stopped ringing. On Wednesday there was a strong smell of something rotting from the main house. I called the police. We opened the door with a spare key and found the body in a blue drum in the toilet. It had been cut up and some of Thabelo’s clothes appeared to have been used to wipe up plenty of blood,” said Mr Ngwenya.
He said Tawana was the last of three children who was always quiet and had never shown homicidal tendencies.
Mr Benny Moyo, Mazolo’s uncle, said the family had tried to locate her when she suddenly became unreachable on her phone.
“I went to her workplace and each time I would be told she is busy or had just left. We are devastated to learn she has been killed. We hear the suspect was arrested in Harare today. We may have more information when the police complete investigations,” said Mr Moyo.
Miss Nomathemba Ndaba, Mr Ngwenya’s employer, choked on her words in an interview.
“At least Tawana who is suspected to have done this horrible thing has been arrested,” she said. “We are very sorry for Thabelo’s family but we want to warn young people against partaking in rituals. He may die in jail after this. Young people must be careful who they play with.”
Chronicle went on the ground yesterday and unearthed grisly details of what could have happened.
Tawana who did his O-Levels at Allan Wilson High School in Harare was said to be a loner. He allegedly borrowed a hacksaw from a neighbour on May 25 saying he wanted to prune some trees and cut a drum.
It is suspected the hacksaw was used to cut up the body.
Neighbours said around that time, he said he was looking for sulphuric acid.
He allegedly made inquiries at a company along Khami Road but was told it was out of stock.
Tawana’s colleagues said he seemed spooked and was reluctant to have them spend time at his home with him.
“He was acting weird. It was as if he expected someone to suddenly appear behind him and harm him. He was furtive and withdrew further into himself. When he left, he said he was going to Mutare. We heard a relative had seen him in Kadoma. We are all shocked that he killed someone,” said a friend who declined to be named.
There were heart-tugging moments when some neighbours burst into tears as they talked about Thabelo.
“We had known her for a short time but she was nice to all of us,” said a woman who asked not to be named.
“Tawana was slim and looked frail. If he did it, he could not have done it alone because Thabelo was significantly bigger than him. I doubt he could have lifted the body and put it into the acid drum by himself,” said the neighbour.
Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Abednico Ncube said police were investigating the killing.
“The informant last saw the deceased on 29 May 2020 at around 11AM when she was going to town. On 1 June 2020 the now deceased sent a message to the informant advising him that she was going out of town and will be back on Sunday 7 June 2020,” said Inspector Ncube.
He said when Mr Ngwenya called the police, they found Thabelo’s body inside a blue 200 litre drum in the bathroom in a decomposed state.
The body was conveyed to the United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) for post mortem.
Source: Grisly ritual murder in affluent suburb
Related article:
ZRP Arrests A Man In Harare Suspected Of Killing A Woman For Ritual Purposes In Bulawayo’s Matsheumhlophe Suburb
Published: June 12, 2020
By: Pindula News – Zimbabwe
ZRP this week arrested a man in Harare who is suspected of killing a 25-year-old woman whose body was found sawn in half and part of her body mutilated and some body parts like breasts and palms missing and stashed into a drum filled with acid in the affluent Matsheumhlophe suburb in Bulawayo, The Chronicle reports.
The suspected murderer, 20-year-old Tawana Ngwenya, the son of the caretaker where the woman lived, was arrested in Harare where he is suspected to have fled to after committing the heinous crime.
Tawana reportedly had instructions of how he should kill the deceased Ms Thabelo Mazolo to get rich. Part of the instruction seen by the publication reads:
You must cut yourself and spill your blood onto a mirror. Gaze into the mirror and say out loud that you are selling your soul for riches. After that you must open the door for my boys to go out.
Tawana was staying at the guest house where Mazolo worked after Mazolo’s sister secured employment for him at a Bulawayo company.
Tawana’s father who is a caretaker at the guest house said he last saw Mazolo alive on 29 May:
Tawana disappeared from home on Tuesday when he asked him if he knew Mazolo’s whereabouts and he switched off his phone. Thabelo’s phone had stopped ringing. On Wednesday there was a strong smell of something rotting from the main house. I called the police. We opened the door with a spare key and found the body in a blue drum in the toilet. It had been cut up and some of Thabelo’s clothes appeared to have been used to wipe up plenty of blood.
