Fifteen youths will spend their lives in prison after they were sentenced to life imprisonment by the Mthatha regional court on Tuesday for “witchcraft killing”.

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National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said that according to evidence presented in court, the murderers gathered near a bus stop shelter where they resolved to kill Nocingile, whom they believed was responsible for the death of their friend and relative who was due to be buried the following day.

The young man died in a freak accident by falling off a cliff a few days earlier.“Upon entering the [Gcelu family] hut, which was not locked, they went straight to Nocingile and started assaulting her with sticks and stabbing her with bush knives.

“When the husband, Dudu, tried to intervene, he was also assaulted and stabbed.

The couple’s 30-year-old daughter pleaded with the group to spare the lives of the grandchildren and she managed to escape and take them outside the hut through the window, but not before she was also severely assaulted,” Tyali said.