Khululiwe Mema (40), who is serving his 30-year jail term
at Khami Maximum Prison, told B-Metro that murdering his best friend was not
his intention.
He said his guilty conscience was tormenting him and he
wanted to settle his issues with the relatives of the deceased.
“Firstly, I would like to thank the prison authorities for
coming up with a programme like this to try and link the community and the inmates
who are serving in different prisons countrywide.
“It was in 2012, when I was approached by one of my friends
in Esigodini in the company of his brother and he asked me to buy them beer. On
the day in question, their mining samples had not produced a reasonable amount
of money for them to buy beer like what other miners were doing,” he said.
Mema said as they were talking, the now deceased produced a
US$1 note and gave it to him to top up the beer money, but he insisted that he
could not afford to buy beer for two more people from his budget for the day.
“I really tried to knock sense into the two guys that my
budget for the day was too small such that I could not afford to buy them beer
and as I was explaining myself to them, I was holding the note they had given
me.
“When the two realised that I was not giving in to their
request, the brother of the deceased snatched the note and it got torn into two
pieces,” he said.
This angered the two brothers, who picked up empty bottles
of beer and attacked him. Mema sustained head injuries.
“I sustained some serious head injuries and the security
personnel at the bar is the one that came to my rescue by stopping these guys
from further injuring me.
“The owner of the bar took us to his office and in their
discussions, they agreed that they were going to foot my medical bills as I was
bleeding profusely,” he said.
Mema said soon after the short meeting, the now deceased
approached him, claiming that he wanted to give him money to go to the
hospital.
“It was around 8pm, when the deceased person came to me in
the company of his brother, telling me that they wanted to give me some money
so that I could go to the hospital the next morning as I had sustained a dip
cut at the back of my head.
“As we were going to their home of residence, I just had
this funny feeling that these guys could attack me so as a way of protecting
myself I had my pocket knife,” he said.
The inmate said on their way, the duo started insulting him
over the issue and another fight erupted and he managed to overpower them. In
the process he managed to stab the now deceased on the lower abdomen and his
brother managed to escape from the scene unhurt.
“As we were going to their place of residence, they tried
to attack me once again using empty bottles but this time I was more than ready
so I managed to overpower them and, in the process, I managed to stab the now
deceased on the lower abdomen.
“After having over-powered these guys, I saw it pointless
to continue walking with them, instead I changed direction and went home to
rest as I had spent the whole day mining with my team,” he said.
The inmate said it was only the next morning that he got a
shock of his life, when police officers, who came to his home, told him that he
was under arrest for murder.
“Before I could write any statement pertaining to this
issue, I demanded to see the body of the deceased and after being afforded that
chance that’s when I discovered that I was going to be in prison for a very
long time over R7,” he said.
The magistrate ruled that
it was premeditated murder and sentenced him to 30 years in prison.
“As we speak, I have served eight years in prison and my
stay has not been that easy as I am not at peace with myself so I thought it is
better I ask you guys to Esigodini and meet the family of the now deceased on
my behalf to hear what they want.
“The information that you are going to get from that family
may you please give it to my family so that something can be done over this
issue as I know that there is “ngozi” from such issues”
Mema said whilst in prison he decided to be part of the
rehabilitation section and they managed to form a musical group called Voice of
Praise, a gospel band.
They managed to record their first album called Ngithathe
Nginje. The album has eight tracks.
“My life was really affected by this issue, but at the same
time, I would like to think its a punishment from God as I had left his ways
that I was brought up under by my parents.
“Before I got into this situation, my father told me that
it was high time I stop drinking and smoking as this would leave me in a pool
of mud.
“Right now, I understand what he meant and as we speak, I
am now a member of the Seventh Day Adventist. Since 2014 I stopped smoking as
my father had advised me” he ended. B Metro
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