“He would never harm my children. He would never sell them for muthi. He never used sangomas and he would definitely never murder anyone.”
As Hillary Gardee murder-accused Sipho Mkhatshwa testified in his bail hearing this week in the Mbombela magistrate's court his fiancée, Zandile Magagula, expressed her anger over an SMS allegedly sent by a sangoma to police that is believed to have led to his arrest.
The SMS claimed Mkhatshwa had requested cleansing after admitting to Gardee's murder. The Mpumalanga sangoma also alleged that Mkhatshwa expressed a wish to sell two children living with albinism to the sangoma for R2m.
Two of Magagula’s daughters have albinism.
The Sunday Times has seen the SMS, which a source close to the case confirmed was one of five texts the sangoma sent to Mpumalanga detectives alerting them to Mkhatshwa’s alleged involvement in Gardee’s murder.
Magagula dismissed the allegations. “The claims that Sipho wanted to sell albino children for R2m are lies. I am 100% sure that Sipho would never hurt my girls. He has never been to a sangoma before.”
She said Mkhatshwa had an alibi for the murder and went into detail on his whereabouts on the day Gardee went missing and the following days.
Mkhatshwa on Thursday handed in an affidavit to court and took to the stand to outline his movements at the time of Gardee’s disappearance and murder.
On Friday, before prosecutor Ntsika Mpolweni could continue his cross-examination, Mkhatshwa’s attorney Sebastian Bhila and advocate Sifiso Silindza recused themselves, citing a conflict of interest.
They declined to tell magistrate Eddie Hall what the conflict was, with Bhila stating that doing so would “prejudice both my client and myself”.
Silindza told the Sunday Times his former client denied consulting any sangoma in relation to the murder, or contemplating selling the two children with albinism.
Speaking to the Sunday Times outside court on Friday, Mpolweni said he would have used the day to question Mkhatshwa about claims in the text messages, and about cellphone data which allegedly placed his phone near Gardee’s phone at the time of her disappearance. He was also to have the investigating officer testify.
Written in isiZulu, Swatini and English, the sangoma's messages claim that Mkhatshwa repeatedly contacted him after apparently confessing to Gardee’s murder and dumping her body along the R37.
Translated into English the first SMS reads: “I cleansed him and then gave muthi ... he found the girl he wanted. He said she has children who are fair skinned [albinism].
“He further said to me that I should give him R2m and he will give me the children so I can make muthi for good luck. I told him that I do not use human body parts when I concoct muthi.”
The sangoma, who is reportedly to be a key witness in the state’s case against Mkhatshwa and his co-accused Philemon Lukhele and Albert Gama, proved elusive when the Sunday Times tried to track him down this week in the sprawling settlement of Schoemansdal.
Residents replied nervously when asked of his whereabouts and name.
“Those things that you speak of are bad,” said one woman, giving her name as Bongiwe, addding that everyone in the area knew the sangoma.
“He is powerful. The most powerful. The suspect came to him for blessings after doing those bad things. He lives here in Schoemansdal. When the papers reported about him he disappeared for some time but many say he is back. Maybe he went away to make strong muthi to protect himself.”
Mkhatshwa owns two homes in Schoemansdal, a house in Malelane, where he was arrested, and a flat in Germiston on Gauteng’s East Rand, where he worked for the City of Ekurhuleni.
We never knew the Gardees. The claims that he killed Hillary are madness. I believe they come from people jealous that we were to marry the week he was arrested.
Magagula, speaking exclusively to the Sunday Times in their modest home in Malelane as her children played outside, portrayed Mkhatshwa as a doting father, a devout Roman Catholic Church elder and a loving husband.
“My man is Christian. He is not a killer. He is a lover, a worshipper of God. He loves our family ... Even though my three daughters are from my previous marriage, Sipho loves them as though they are his own.
“We never knew the Gardees. The claims that he killed Hillary are madness. I believe they come from people jealous that we were to marry the week he was arrested.
“It is not the first time such SMSes have circulated. We received one in August last year and another in March. They were threatening. They accused Sipho of being a bad man who would hurt my children and me ... "
She said that on April 30, the day Gardee was murdered, Mkhatshwa was attending a church function. In that time, he was also preparing for their wedding, making arrangements to buy a cow for the lobolo ceremony and visited a tailor.
On Thursday, through an affidavit and testifying from the dock in his defence, Mkhatshwa said he could provide “solid and unquestionable evidence”, including receipts and a minibus taxi passenger book, proving he was not involved in the crime.
Letha Mhlongo, chair of Driekoppies St Theresa Roman Catholic Church, told the Sunday Times she and church members spent some of April 30 with Mkhatshwa.
“We first attended a ceremony related to the end of a bereavement period. One of our church members passed on. Sipho was the conductor of that ceremony. We left the bereaved family at around 4pm.”
Mkhatshwa's bail application was interrupted when his lawyers recused themselves from the case, forcing a postponement until Thursday.
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