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City man killed in fight over grapes

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“By the time I checked he was staggering out of the gate holding his chest, with a knife stuck in his back.”

A GALESHEWE family has been left shocked and puzzled after a family member fatally stabbed another family member at their home in Magoda Street.

The family is struggling to come to terms with the incident as the two men grew up together in the house.

It is alleged that the suspect stabbed the victim, 31-year-old Gaopalelwe Moloto, on Thursday afternoon after an argument ensued over the picking of grapes from a vine in the yard of the house where they both lived.

The 40-year-old suspect, who was believed to have been drunk, apparently objected to the picking of the grapes.

A family member said that he was sitting with the two men when the argument broke out. He said that he decided to go and sleep as he saw the argument as pointless.

“The deceased went into the house to fetch a pair of scissors, which he used to cut the grapes from the tree. I left after seeing the accused go into his shack, as I assumed that he was going to go and rest. I did not know, nor did I suspect that he was fetching a knife from his shack.”

He said that he was inside the house when he heard Gaopalelwe screaming to a neighbour to call an ambulance because he had been stabbed.

“By the time I checked he was staggering out of the gate holding his chest, with a knife stuck in his back.”

He said that he rushed to help Gaopalelwe, who was staggering in the road.

“I was shocked to see that the knife, which was stuck in his shoulder, was protruding through his chest.

“He was already bleeding heavily and I guided him to a house near ours in order to ask the owners to call an ambulance.

“While we called an ambulance he collapsed at our neighbour’s gate. I made him lie down on his side out of fear that the knife will move and tear into his body.”

Another family member said he was also shocked to be called to rush home from work, only to find the lifeless body of his cousin on the ground.

“It was traumatising to see his body already covered and lying in the scorching heat.

“We are still reeling from shock as both the suspect and the deceased have never been violent people.”

According to the family member, the suspect was arrested in the street on the same day and looked as if he was confused.

The two men’s sister in law said that she was also in shock and that she had been with the men on the day of the incident, before she left for work at 2pm.

She said that she was sitting with the suspect and watching a movie and that the deceased was sitting on the veranda.

“The suspect is the one who alerted me that I was running late for work and I even joked with the deceased before I left to catch a taxi to work,” she said.

Police spokesperson Captain Bashoabile Kale confirmed that the Kagisho police arrested a 40-year-old man on Thursday on a charge of murder.

“It is alleged that the two men were quarrelling over the picking of grapes in the yard when the deceased was stabbed with a sharp object in the back. The suspect and the deceased are related. The suspect will appear before the Galeshewe Magistrate’s Court,” said Kale.

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