Witness Tells Court That Killers Of Dismembered Albino Girl Cleansed Themselves In Her Blood In Sick Ritual

A witness to the murder of an albino teenage girl who was dismembered and buried in a shallow grave in South Africa has told the court that her killers stripped naked and “cleansed” their bodies with her blood.

The witness, who has been named only as Mr X in local media reports because he is a state witness under the protection of the authorities, was giving testimony at the trial of three men accused of murdering a teenage albino girl called Gabisile Shabane.

The victim, who was from the town of Emalahleni in the Nkangala District Municipality of Mpumalanga Province, some 100 kilometres (62 miles) outside Pretoria in South Africa, was abducted and murdered in January 2018, allegedly because her killers were interested in her body parts to perform rituals.

Gabisile Shabane (13), the teenager with Albinism, who was killed in January 2018. (Newsflash)

Three suspects, named as ‘traditional healer’ and alleged mastermind Thokozani Msibi, Knowledge Wezi Mhlanga and Mthobisi Brilliant Mkhize, are on trial for her murder.

A fourth defendant, Mfanasibili Gamedze, died in custody and a fifth accused, Josiah Thubane pleaded guilty for his role in this case in 2019 and is already serving time.

Mr X, who is in the witness protection programme, was reportedly present when Gabisile was brutally murdered, dismembered and buried in Cullinan, a small town in Gauteng Province approximately 30 kilometres outside (18.6 miles) Pretoria.

Gabisile Shabane (13), the teenager with Albinism, who was killed in January 2018. (Newsflash)

The witness said that the victim was made to drink beer laced with brake fluid as well as consume ‘dagga’, a local term for cannabis, before she was brutally murdered.

He said that her body parts were then used to perform rituals. He added that her blood was also taken.

The witness had already started giving testimony last week and continued on Monday when he revealed to the courtroom what he knew about the victim’s death at the farm in Cullinan.

Gabisile Shabane (13), the teenager with Albinism, who was killed in January 2018. (Newsflash)

According to local South African media outlet The Sunday Times, Mr X told the court: “Mr Msibi closed the hole [shallow grave where Shabane was buried] while Mr Gamedze was busy with the plastic which contained the parts. It was then that Msibi said ‘now is the time for us to do a cleansing ritual on ourselves’.”

He added: “I was told that it was time for me to cleanse, so my mum could get well and all our things could go Okay. We then all took off our clothes. We cleansed with the contents of the bucket.”

Mr X also told the court that Msibi stopped everyone while they were walking back to the farmhouse and told them: “Men, can everything that has happened here stay between us. No matter what the situation is, it should be kept between us.

The 15-month old Nkosikhona Ngwenya who was killed in January 2018. (Newsflash)

“He was referring to the killing of Gabisile and the removal of her body parts. He pleaded with me and also made reference to Mkhize [who allegedly had driven them from Witbank after Gabisile’s abduction], saying that even though we did not partake [in the killing], we should keep this secret to ourselves.

“I promised him that I would never disclose anything. He said if we ever spoke about this, we would get to see the full might of his ‘muthi’.”

‘Muthi’, or ‘muti’, is a term that denotes the practice of traditional medicine in southern Africa.

Josiah Thubane, Thokozani Msibi, Knowledge Mhlanga and Brilliant Mkhize, the men implicated in the murder of Gabisile Shabane (13), the teenager with Albinism and 15-month old Nkosikhona Ngwenyya, while being in the court. (Newsflash)

Mr X continued giving testimony, saying that a few days after the brutal murder, police had raided the location where Msibi had been practising traditional medicine. This was the same day that Msibi and another man, who has not been named, went to the garage where Mr X worked and the witness asked them for a lift home.

Mr X got into the car where he said he was met by a very strong smell of rotting flesh but when he opened the window, Msibi immediately closed it.

He added: “When we were about to arrive close to Msibi’s house, I asked if I could get out. We could see a lot of police there. Police were searching his yard and indumba. He went there and joined them and I watched from the street. They didn’t search his car and left soon thereafter.”

Josiah Thubane who admitted to killing Gabisile Shabane (13) and 15-month old Nkosikhona Ngwenya, in January 2018, in the dock in Middelburg in South Africa. (Newsflash)

Mr X said that a few days after that, he went to Msibi’s home to ask about the police raid.

He said: “On the smell in the car, Msibi said it was because they had been to Cullinan to fetch the body of the child [that day]. It was because they had been told by a traditional healer from KwaZulu-Natal that the rituals they had done would not work… The healer had said he wanted the skull of the child [to make their ritual work] and they went there to fetch the body and the rest of the skull.”

He told the courtroom that on the day the police searched Msibi’s home, they failed to search the vehicle with the victim’s dismembered corpse, with Msibi claiming that this was clearly proof that his ‘muthi’ was powerful.

Josiah Thubane who admitted to killing Gabisile Shabane (13) and 15-month old Nkosikhona Ngwenya, in January 2018, in the dock in Middelburg in South Africa. (Newsflash)

Soon after that, Mr X was arrested and he turned state witness before confessing to his role in the gruesome affair.

Gabisile Shabane was kidnapped at gunpoint along with her 15-month-old nephew Nkosikhona in January 2018. When the abductors realised that the young child did not have albinism as they previously thought, they allegedly tossed his body over a bridge and his decomposing corpse was later found in a swamp.

The trial is ongoing.