Vusi Ntuli from Lynville in Witbank was so excited when the three suspects, who allegedly assaulted and kidnapped him last year, were denied bail and remanded in police custody on 19 February.
Ntuli, 47 years then, was allegedly assaulted and kidnapped by the three men after he was caught stealing two bottles of Nivea body lotions at Ohlanga Cash and Carry last year.
On that fateful day, Ntuli claimed that the security guards, who caught him stealing from the shop, handed him to the owners of the shop who allegedly took him to a certain building near the municipality’s licencing department and locked him up in a cage. “Three white men tied me up to a fence and started to beat me up to a pulp,” Ntuli claimed.
He continued, “They made me to choose between being killed or having my fingers cut-off. I was held in a place where there were big dogs. After finishing to beat me up, they pulled out a knife and firearm, and then forced me to choose between death and having my fingers cut-off. I kept quiet and couldn’t think for a moment. It wasn’t easy to decide and choose. One of them kicked me in the mouth and threatened to kill me. So I eventually chose the knife,” he claimed.
Ntuli added, “They put my right hand on the table and chopped my finger off. I was in deep pain and couldn’t believe this was happening to me. My chopped finger was then thrown to their dogs to feed on it. I swear they were going to chop all my fingers! These whites wanted to kill me. I eventually managed a lucky escape from the cage.” “I want to see them rot in jail,” said Ntuli. “I am happy now that the law finally is taking its course and they will remain in custody since they were denied bail. They should have not taken the law into their own hands. They can’t compare a body lotion to a human finger,” he said. The three suspects’ case was remanded to 16 March.
