Beheading: traditional healer arrested

Police have arrested a traditional healer believed to have been involved in the beheading of a SA cricket star.

Durban - Police have arrested a traditional healer believed to have been involved in the beheading of a South African cricket star from Umzinto.

On Tuesday, investigators were informed that residents of the Msholozi temporary housing settlement in Umzinto had surrounded a house that the wanted suspect had visited.

A 31-year-old man was arrested and detained. The head of the murdered man was recovered on the scene.

The head, which was in an advanced state of decomposition, had been placed in several plastic shopping bags and buried in the ground.

It has been sent to the Park Rynie State Mortuary for forensic analysis to confirm that it is indeed that of the deceased Nawaaz Khan.

A 21-year-old man, believed to be the cricketer’s best friend, appeared in the Umzinto Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday on a charge of murder.

Police spokesman, Brigadier Jay Naicker, said the man made a full confession to a commissioned police officer, but this was not read out in court. He was expected to appear in court on November 19 for a formal bail application.

Two other people were arrested for buying the dead man’s phone.

Intellectually impaired Khan, 23, of Gandhinagar, left home on Saturday, October 31, to meet friends.

He worked part time as a conductor for a long-distance trucking company and his family thought he was travelling on the trucks when he did not come home.

Last Wednesday his mother, Zakia Khan, made enquiries in the area. All efforts to find him proved futile. His monthly government grant money had also not been withdrawn from his bank account.

Fearing the worst, his mother began to call the nearest hospitals and mortuaries. She opened a missing person’s report at the Umzinto SAPS.

Detective Warrant Officer Steyn Moonsamy, of the Umzinto SAPS Detective Service, began questioning people last seen with Khan.

Naicker said a close friend had broken down while being interrogated and led police to a forest in neighbouring Isonti on Saturday.

“Khan’s headless body was found lying in the bushes. It is alleged that Khan’s friend had consulted a traditional healer who requested a human head so that he could help resolve his problems.

“The traditional healer and Khan’s friend lured Khan to the crime scene in Isonti. While there, Khan was attacked with a bush knife and beheaded. His cellphones, clothing and takkies were taken by his attackers. Neither the head nor the bush knife has been recovered as yet,” Naicker said.

His decomposed body was protruding from a shallow grave. He was identified by a tattoo on his arm. It was alleged that the friend was promised the body parts for his cure, while the sangoma took the head. It is not clear how they carried or concealed the head without being seen.

“He (the traditional healer) is known to the detectives who expect to take him into custody soon. They are hopeful that his arrest would lead to the victim’s head and the murder weapon being recovered,” Naicker said.

Two more people, one of Msholozi Informal Settlement in Umzinto, and the other of Dumisa, were taken in for questioning on Sunday night. They each allegedly bought one of the two cellphones that had belonged to Khan.

KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner, Lieutenant-General Mmamonnye Ngobeni, urged people not to follow the instructions of such merciless traditional healers, but to rather report them to police.

Khan has been buried at the Umzinto Cemetery.

His mother said she was heartbroken and describing her son as a humble young man who loved cricket. His father, Omar, and brother and sister, Moaaz and Arnaaz, as well as his grandparents, were distraught.

Khan had been waiting for his visa to be approved to play with the South African intellectually impaired cricket team in Australia.

He had been part of the KZN intellectually impaired team since 2008. He won the SA Cricket Awards 2013 CSA intellectually impaired cricketer of the year award. The trophy, one of many, stands proudly on a shelf in the family’s home.

Calvin Govender, manager of Umzinto’s local cricket club, Saints, said Khan had been playing with the club since he was 14 while attending Schola Amoris Special Needs School in Umzinto. Govender said Khan did not attend a match on November 1.

“We tried in vain to contact him and his family. His death has left us in shock. Khan’s crowning moment was when Hashim Amla presented him with the SA player of the tournament trophy. He was an all-rounder, but his strength was in his batting. When he completed school, he continued playing cricket for us. He opened the batting for the team and was also a prolific fielder,” Govender said.

A spokesman for the SA Sports Association for the intellectually impaired, Albert Warnick, said Khan played the game at a social level until 2003 when he was enrolled in Schola Amoris School.

“In a matter of two years, his talent and skill shone through and in 2005 he started playing professional cricket for Saints Cricket Club, and at provincial and national level for KAZNA-II.

“He began playing at this level at a young age and found himself playing a development role in the South African squad from 2010 until 2013, when he made the final SA team,” Warnick said.

This came after a sterling performance at the SASA-II National Cricket Championships in Rustenburg in March 2013. Khan’s excellent performance throughout the tournament saw him earn the title of player of the tournament.

“He produced figures of 196 runs with a batting average of 98 and took six valuable wickets which saw him lead the KZN coastal team to the semi-finals. Nawaaz had proved that through hard work, dedication and a never-give-up attitude he had made his dream of representing his country come true,” Warnick said.

Umdoni Municipality Ward 3 councillor, Shireen Bhoola, said: “This kind of barbaric behaviour is unethical and shows the complete disrespect for the law.”

She will spearhead a placard demonstration, to deny bail, outside court next week.

“Just a week ago, Nawaaz and 20 other youths’ employment was confirmed for the extended Public Works programme.

“My office concluded all his administration work. Nawaaz was a very humble individual,” she said.

Bhoola said that her prayers for strength and courage went out to Khan’s family and friends.

Daily News

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