Peace reigns since deportation of �Sebina Monster�
Lebogang Mosikare | Friday January 26, 2018 18:20
In the aftermath of the gruesome incidents, residents of the above villages, especially women, imposed a temporary curfew upon themselves not to visit fields and cattleposts, which are the mainstay of their livelihoods for fear of their lives.
The villagers finally found peace after a Zimbabwean man dubbed the ‘Sebina Monster’ was arraigned in court and sentenced to jail for five years in August 2014.
The man’s real name is Mcgini Ncube but he was long released from jail in 2015 after the court reduced his sentence by three years and the time he spent in custody following his initial arrest on August 14, 2013.
It should however, be noted that Ncube was not linked to any capital offence after he was tried by the Francistown Magistrate’s Courts for two counts of arson.
Although Ncube’s arrest and subsequent deportation from Botswana after he completed his prison term may have provided the villagers with some respite, it is however, obvious that relatives and reasonable members of the public want the perpetrator of the heinous crimes (especially the murder/s) to be brought to book in order to find closure.
The killings are still shrouded in an eerie veil. The then principal magistrate Thebeetsile Mulalu only made a veiled assumption that Ncube was somehow the culprit behind the murders.
He said when sentencing Ncube: “… Let me note that the accused might be responsible for other cases that happened within Sebina and surrounding areas. However, I am of the view that it has not been proven beyond reasonable doubt before court that he committed the offences”.
Mulalu added: “It just remains a suspicion that he might have committed the offences. I will disabuse my mind of those suspicions. The accused shall be found guilty of the matters at hand”.
After almost five years after the people of the nearby Central District villages were cowed into great fear, the villagers now exude an air of tranquility and fearlessness.
The headman of Sebina, Shathani Kgakanyane was over the moon when comparing what happened in the past and what is obtaining now.
She said people, “are now free to go to the lands and cattleposts without fear of being ambushed while still trying to earn a living”.
“Our elders now do their chores at the lands and cattleposts without fear of being attacked by some unruly people although a few people in our society will sometimes rob them of their hard-earned property and do all sorts of illegal things to them. Our lives are now normal just like they were in the past. We wish this could happen forever. However, we will never forget what happened to some of our people,” said Kgakanyane.
She prayed that the person or people who committed the unsolved crimes would be swiftly arrested and brought to book.
She added: “People who were directly and indirectly affected by these crimes need to find closure and move on with their lives although they will never forget what happened”.
The station commander for Tutume police superintendent Jerry Halahala also revealed that the situation has now greatly improved as compared to in the past.
“As the police we try by all within our means to provide adequate security to the public. People are supposed to go about their lives without intimidation and fear.
However, we advise Batswana to do away with the habit of hiring foreigners without proper documents because some of the foreigners end up being involved in committing crimes similar to the one you cited,” Halahala said.
Police spokesperson, Near Bagali said investigations into the murder cases were still on-going.
He said: “With the investigations still on-going, I am constrained to talk about the number of people linked to the offences as the outcome of the investigations will determine such.
The procedure is that once the police are done with the investigations, the case will be forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions for further perusal and subsequent prosecution of the offender(s).”