Man kills brother in dispute over beer

A MAGWE man allegedly killed his drunken brother during a quarrel over why their friends were drinking their beer without contributing to the purchase of the "scud".

According to the State outline, Phumulani Ncube (34) from Mkubasi Village in Mphoengs under Chief Sangulube was drinking beer with his brother, Qhubekani Ncube (33), when unnamed friends joined them.

Qhubekani accused their friends of drinking for free and Phumulani restrained him.

This did not go down well with the now deceased Qhubekani who then left the bar and headed home. Phumulani later followed him.

When the accused arrived home he found Qhubekani having packed his clothes on a bicycle, intending to go and live with his mother in Brunaperg.

"The accused person followed the now deceased who was cycling out of the yard carrying a bag of clothes. A misunderstanding ensued again leading to the accused kicking the now deceased on the stomach and hitting him several times with a stick on the back," the State outline reads.

"On 1 October 2014 at around 12pm while on the way to Sanzukwi Clinic the now deceased's health deteriorated and he passed on. The body was conveyed to Brunaperg Hospital. He was certified dead by Dr Janusz Michalavin before being put in the mortuary."

In his warned and cautioned statement, Phumalani admitted to assaulting his brother but added that it was in retaliation and he did not foresee his death.

"I reprimanded Qhubekani from ridiculing people but he said I should not reprimand him as he wanted people to respect him. He added that no one was going to assault him as he is a killer," said Phumulani.

"I told him to keep quiet about killing people as it was humiliating and the community knew that he ran away from South Africa after killing someone. However, he said he would have to kill me because I had caused people to disrespect him."

Phumalani added that Qhubekani left their drinking spot and headed home.

"I followed my brother home and found him tying a bag on his bicycle. I did not trust the way he was leaving and suspected that he might come back and kill me while I was asleep. I beseeched him to go to our father to solve our misunderstanding, but he assaulted me with an open hand.

"I then booted him to the ground and took a switch and assaulted him three times. Our father then intervened, and ordered me to carry my brother into the house. Scared that my brother might wake up and assault me, I went to sleep at my workplace," Phumulani said.

Phumulani will appear at the High Court in May.