Another gruesome city murder

YET another gruesome murder has been recorded in Bulawayo after a Nkulumane man was stabbed and left for dead by unknown assailants on Tuesday night.

Bulawayo provincial police spokesperson Inspector Mandlenkosi Moyo confirmed the latest crime and said the man had died at Mpilo Central Hospital yesterday.

"The incident occurred at 9pm on Tuesday. Residents in the area heard screams and when they went out to investigate, they found that a man had been stabbed.

"The residents called for an ambulance, but the man died in hospital this morning (yesterday). The assailants are on the run," he said.

Southern Eye spoke to a woman who lives at a house near where the man was stabbed in Nkulumane close to Mandwandwe High School.

"We went outside after hearing some noises and found him lying in blood.

"The only thing he said was that he lives in Pumula South," the woman who declined to be named, said.

"He had stab wounds in the cheek and the side of his jacket was torn like it had been cut by a knife.

Some people had already called an ambulance."

The woman's neighbour, who did not want to be named, narrated a similar story.

"I was called outside when the ambulance was about to arrive. He had been stabbed in the cheek and side of the arm.

"He was not from our neighbourhood, but I heard others saying he was from Pumula South," the man said.

The murder comes after Bulawayo police revealed that they had dealt with five murder cases in the past three weeks, four of which were in one week.

Moyo said police had intensified campaigns in communities urging residents to seek peaceful means to resolve conflicts.

On Thursday last week, commuter omnibus driver Gellot Ncube of Gwabalanda high-density suburb stabbed his estranged wife, Nomqhele Nkiwane, nine times on the face, chest and neck before taking his own life.

A jilted man Arthur Sibanda of Entumbane allegedly struck and cracked open the skull of his rival suitor Elvis Dube with a spanner after he found him at his ex-wife's lodgings.

Another Entumbane man, Tongoona Muchayiri (36), allegedly stuck his elder brother with a hoe on Friday last week. The brother died in hospital on Sunday.

Tongoona is still on the run and police have launched a manhunt for him.

On Saturday morning, a taxi driver was found dead close to Gifford High School in Famona with a bullet wound in his head.

Last month two brothers, Lincoln and Liton Mutosvore, allegedly teamed up and beat up a woman who later died in hospital.

"We have recorded five murders in the past three weeks and as the police, we are worried," Moyo said.

"We have intensified our awareness campaigns on violence. There are teams that have been sent to the districts on cycles and vehicle patrols and will continue engaging the public."

Moyo said there was need for community involvement to prevent murders that emanated from domestic disputes.

"The police alone cannot prevent murders that result from domestic disputes.

"The community should be involved. We have neighbourhood watch committees and crime prevention consultative committees that society can be involved in.

"Such foras enlighten people about the laws of the country and the channels to be followed in addressing disputes.

"We have the community relations officers at district and provincial level that the community can use in the event of disputes," Moyo added.