Bribe for job deal ends in stabbing

Mashudu Mambo

ASKING for an allowance from a herdsman as a token for assisting him to get a job from his parents left a 24-year-old man from Nyamandlovu, in Matabeleland North province hospitalised after he was stabbed with a kitchen knife on the back, armpit and chest by the worker.

This came to light when Albert Dube appeared before Bulawayo regional magistrate Joseph Mabeza facing a charge of attempted murder. 

He pleaded not guilty to the charge and was remanded in custody to 11 April for continuation of trial.

In defence, Albert said he met the complainant Mpumelelo Ncube who was in the company of his friend Trust Dube at a beerhall in Sherville Village in Nyamandlovu.

“Ncube then called me out and said that he wanted US$20 every month as payment for helping me to get a job from his parents as a herdsman and l refused saying l could not afford the amount he was asking for.

“He then started assaulting me and when he was asked by passersby why he was assaulting me, he told them that I was disrespectful. He continued hitting me with fists before I ran away going home,” he said.

Albert said when he got home he found Ncube carrying a metal rod and he attempted to hit him with it.

“When l got home, l found him standing at the door carrying a metal rod and he intended to strike me on the head with it and he missed his target. I then fled going to a nearby house belonging to Mavis Dube.

“He then followed me carrying a kitchen knife and l started calling out for help from Mavis when he attempted to stab me with it.

“The knife however, fell down and l picked it up and stabbed him with it,” narrated Dube.

It is the State’s case that on 22 January and at around 4pm, Ncube was at Sherville shops where Albert was insulting people for no apparent reason.

Ncube then intervened and requested Albert to stop insulting people and he complied and went home. 

At around midnight, when Ncube left the shops and when he was about a few metres away from home, Albert who was armed with a kitchen knife came from behind and stabbed him once on the back, armpit and on the chest.

After the frenzied stabbing Ncube fell unconscious and was rushed to the police at Nyamandlovu where he was assisted and referred to hospital for medical attention.

Investigations by the police later led to the arrest of Albert.