Durban - A traditional healer on trial for the murder and decapitation of Chatsworth woman Desiree Murugan has testified that he turned away two youngsters who came to him with her head.
Healer Sibonakaliso Mbili, his assistant Vusumuzi Gumede, and three minors, including a teenage girl, have pleaded not guilty to killing and decapitating Murugan.
Gumede also pleaded not guilty to the charge of being an accessory to the crime.
Murugan had been lured to a sports ground in Shallcross where she was stabbed 192 times and beheaded.
Her body was found by municipal staff and her head was found a few days later in the Imfume area on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast.
State witness Falakhe Khumalo, serving a life sentence for his role in Murugan’s 2014 murder, had testified earlier in the trial, saying Mbili had promised him R2 million if he brought him the head of an Indian, coloured or white female.
He said Mbili had given seven portions of muti for the seven involved in getting him the woman’s head. He told them the muti would make them brave and prevent them from being caught by the police.
Khumalo said he had told his friends about the R2m and they, including the three minor accused, agreed to help.
He said they spent days preparing and had planned to find a prostitute to kill.
The 16-year-old girl was tasked to find one.
During Mbili’s evidence in chief, he told the court two young boys arrived at his home with the head. He apparently told Gumede to inform the youngsters he only dealt with herbal medicine and also told him to turn them away.
In the Durban High Court on Monday, under cross-examination by senior State advocate Cheryl Naidu, Mbili said he could not have seen or treated under-aged boys.
This was because he did not treat children without their parents or guardians being present, he said.
He claimed he did not alert his attorney to this when the youngsters testified because he did not have an opportunity to do so. He later claimed he told his attorney the youngsters’ evidence was “all lies”.
But he did not dispute treating Khumalo and did not say he could not treat him because he was not accompanied by a parent or guardian.
“Yes I didn’t dispute that. I hadn’t estimated their age and if they were fit to come to me or not,” he testified.
Naidu asked him why the youngsters would come to him, a stranger, with a human head, knowing it was a serious offence if they were caught, and try to sell him a head, if it had not been pre-arranged.
“I’m a famous person for healing. In their minds, they assumed I use heads,” Mbili replied.
“If you’re so well known, don’t you think they’ll know your methods to heal a person,” Naidu asked.
“They wouldn’t. They didn’t come to me to treat them as a sangoma,” said Mbili.
The trial continues.
Daily News