{"id":71825,"date":"2017-09-04T16:19:51","date_gmt":"2017-09-04T14:19:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/?p=71825"},"modified":"2017-09-05T16:27:48","modified_gmt":"2017-09-05T14:27:48","slug":"warning-graphic-content-dead-man-must-naked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/news-headlines\/2017\/09\/04\/warning-graphic-content-dead-man-must-naked\/","title":{"rendered":"(Warning Graphic Content) \u2018A dead man must be naked\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mario Nkosi (42) says that he and people living on Thaba Nyoni have an ongoing dispute over goats. They have also had a dispute about land previously and the matter had to be settled in court.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can someone claim shares in your business or in your cattle if they did not buy it with their own money or help build your business? It just does not make sense,\u201d says Mr Nkosi about previous disagreements between him and fellow trustees over a piece of land.<\/p>\n

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On Sunday 20 August he was confronted by two policemen at his house. He identified them as constable Zita and constable Dlamini.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey said that someone is accusing me of stealing their goats,\u201d says Mr Nkosi. He says that there has been a lot of infighting amongst the trustees in a government awarded farm. The goats are part of the issue. Previous attempts to open criminal cases with the police were unsuccessful because it was ruled to be a civil matter, Mr Nkosi claims.<\/p>\n

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Mr Nkosi alleges that the police officers called someone and requested them to come to Mr Nkosi\u2019s house so the issue about the goats can be settled.<\/p>\n

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About 45 minutes later seven cars and bakkies and a group of 20 to 25 men arrived on the scene.
\nMr Nkosi alleges that he was assaulted in front of the police officers before one of them, const.<\/p>\n

Dlamini, tried to calm the situation. He put Mr Nkosi in a police double cab to keep him away from the angry group of men.<\/p>\n

Also read: Opvolg: Doodskis was vir afgestorwe werker<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAt 22:30 that night, const. Zita gave permission for the gang to take me and do as they please. They then handed me over to them,\u201d Mr Nkosi told\u00a0www.mobserver.co.za<\/b>from his hospital bed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Mr Nkosi alleges that he was put into the boot of one of the cars and driven to Thaba Nyoni. He identified two people working for Mr Ramaphosa, a Mr Zulu and Mr Morengeni whom he says is a supervisor on the farm, as being part of the group of men that attacked him. Mr Nkosi also alleges that a double cab bakkie, belonging to Thaba Nyoni, being on the scene.<\/p>\n

Mr Nkosi recalls the horrific events that has left him hospitalized with 14% burn wounds on his body, with a wound on his right leg, from ankle to thigh.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

He says that he was stripped of all his clothes, with the men telling him that a dead man must be naked, whilst doing so. He was taken to a thatched roof building where he was tied with ropes around his neck, arms and feet. Like a bound animal, Mr Nkosi was then tied to wooden trusses supporting the roof.<\/p>\n

The men then made a fire underneath him, whilst he was hanging from the roof.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI was crying and pleading with them. I kept on saying \u2018Please forgive me! Please forgive me! That is the last thing I remember. I think I passed out,\u201d says Mr Nkosi.<\/p>\n

Also read:<\/p>\n

Update: Victor Mlotshwa takes to the stand to testify<\/a><\/p>\n

Day 3 #Coffincase: Cross examination of Sithole completed<\/a><\/p>\n

Update 11 \u2013 Day 3 #CoffinCase trial \u2013 as it happens<\/a><\/p>\n

Update: Accused to call witness on satellite tracking of vehicles <\/a><\/p>\n

He says he woke up in a hospital bed at 03:00 on Monday 21 August. He was later told that a passerby discovered him lying next to the road.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Mr Nkosi says that he is still in excruciating pain. He is expected to return to theatre tomorrow (Tuesday) for doctors to try and repair the damage. Doctors have warned him that there is a big responsibility that he will never be able to walk normall again, due to damage sustained to the tendons in his right knee.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

He has since opened a case against the two police officers with the Independent Police Investigative Directorate as well as a criminal charge of assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm, kidnapping and attempted murder against his attackers.<\/p>\n

Mr Nkosi\u2019s friend returned to the scene where he was burnt and got the occupants of the farm to explain to him how he was tied up and burnt. He took a video of their explanations. The men on the video deny being involved in the incident.<\/p>\n

An old man explains that he was making a fire inside the hut because the men said that they were cold. A younger man explains how Mr Nkosi was tied to the roof. A third man, hiding behind a corner, confesses to having Mr Nkosi in his boot, saying that he made a mistake to bring him to the farm.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

On the video, a skull of an Ankole, a cattle breed from central Africa farmed by Mr Ramaphosa, is seen standing against the hut wall.<\/p>\n

Mr Ramaphos’s spokesperson for the Dept Pres, Ronnie Mamoepa did not respond to a media enquiry before going to press.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A resident of Koppiealleen farm near Badplaas, says he will never be able to walk normal again after being attacked and burnt in the most brutal manner on Thaba Nyoni, a farm belonging to Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2844,"featured_media":71826,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"hasGravity":false,"cxt_article_byline":"Jana Boshoff","cxt_disable_google_ads":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2885,7,2],"tags":[1773,7468,9,7362,1049,2167,1438,7469,1473,1088],"class_list":["post-71825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-crime-news","category-local-news","category-news-headlines","tag-brand","tag-burnt","tag-local-crime-news","tag-cyril-ramaphosa","tag-danger","tag-farm","tag-fire","tag-mob","tag-violence","tag-warning","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"category_labels":{"Category":"News","SubCategory":"Crime News"},"tag_labels":["brand","Burnt","Crime","cyril ramaphosa","danger","farm","fire","mob","violence","warning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2844"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}