Swazi Observer

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MKHULU (77) SHOOTS SON DEAD OVER HOMESTEAD

By WONDERBY DLAMINI | 2024-12-21

A family dispute ended in tragedy when Thombo Nxabanisi Nkwanyana (77) shot and killed his firstborn son, Solomon, with a hunting gun.

The bone of contention was said to be a homestead Nkwanyana was allegedly leasing to a construction company in Magwanyana, a sub-community of Maphungwane chiefdom under Matsanjeni North constituency.

The incident, which was also confirmed by a relative to the family, happened on Wednesday.
According to the relative, who spoke on condition of anonymity, when Solomon returned home from South Africa where he is employed over the weekend, he discovered that his father was leasing some houses to a construction company, which is currently working in the area.

Nkwanyana stays at a separate homestead with his second wife.
“Solomon and some of his siblings stay at the main homestead, which was now partly occupied by the construction workers. He approached his father to complain about the leasing of the houses, arguing that it was improper to have strangers staying at the same homestead with children, some of them being girls,” revealed the relative.

The source further revealed that Nkwanyana said the homestead still belonged to him, despite that he was now staying at a separate homestead with his second wife.

During the argument, he allegedly ordered Solomon and his siblings to vacate the main homestead if they felt uncomfortable to stay with the company’s employees leasing some of the houses.

Solomon and his younger brother are said to have also maintained that they would not allow the employees to stay at the homestead. Solomon, however, took a step further and ordered the construction workers to pack their belongings and leave the homestead.

The confrontation between father and sons happened as the employees packed their belongings, with the intention to leave after being instructed to do so by Solomon.

“As the confrontation continued, Nkwanyana rushed to his second home and returned a few minutes later while carrying a gun. Nobody thought that he would actually use it on his sons,” alleged the relative.

Nkwanyana is alleged to have opened fire and shot his firstborn son in the upper body while the second born son managed to flee when the elderly man turned the gun on him.

After the shooting, the source said Nkwanyana left the homestead and headed to a traditional healer’s home situated at a neighbouring community.

The relative said they suspect that he visited the traditional healer to seek his services.
“When police arrived at the scene, they were informed that Nkwanyana left a few minutes earlier and was traced to the traditional healer’s homestead where he was eventually arrested. He was close with the traditional healer, hence it was easy to predict that he went to visit him after the incident,” said a relative.

Solomon was certified dead upon arrival at Good Shepherd Catholic Hospital.
Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Senior Superintendent, Phindile Vilakati, confirming the incident and said the elderly man was arrested and charged with murder on the same day.

Nkwanyana appeared before Senior Magistrate Vincent Nhlabatsi for a remand. Prosecutor Sisho Magagula submitted that the accused would be committed to the High Court, hence an application for postponement of the matter to December 27 for a second remand appearance.

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