Family of man beaten to death by mob forgive - but still want justice
“Holding grudges won’t bring my father back – at least there will be justice.”
These were the words of a distraught young woman after it emerged that a man had handed himself over in connection with the brutal vigilante killing of her father, Mava Fundakubi, 52, who was wrongly accused of raping a seven-year-old girl and viciously beaten to death by a mob.
Thobeka Fundakubi, 26, was speaking on Wednesday after police confirmed that the child’s father had turned himself in to the police.
A medical examination and tests revealed that the child had not been raped and interviews with her had also provided no evidence of any molestation, police said.
The little girl’s 36-year-old father, who worked as a security guard at a beachfront hotel, was arrested at 8pm on Tuesday after handing himself over to the police earlier in the day.
Police have declined to name the man until he appears in court on Thursday.
Thobeka said she was relieved that the man had handed himself over.
“At least there will be justice for my father,” she said.
“I have accepted what happened and I forgive him [the child’s father] for what he has done.”
Fundakubi’s sister, Nokwakha, 59, who found her brother’s badly battered body lying in a pool of blood in the road, said the family did not have the money to proceed with funeral arrangements and wanted the suspect to help with the costs.
“We have asked the detective handling the case to have a moment with him so that we can ask him to help us with the costs of the funeral he caused.”
The family was heartbroken and needed closure.
“We know that whether he [suspect] is sentenced to two or 20 years behind bars, that won’t bring our brother back,” Nokwakha said.
“We would like him to apologise to our family, more especially to his wife and children.
“I’m glad that most people have removed the posts on social media where they stated that my brother had died, [saying] nja ifile [a dog has died].”
She had made peace with what had happened and the family would meet soon to discuss funeral arrangements and the upcoming court case.
Fundakubi was murdered near his house in De Vos Crescent in the Shukushukuma area of Motherwell on Saturday night.
He was attacked shortly after the little girl’s family said she had been raped by a man who looked like Fundakubi.
Police spokesperson Captain Andre Beetge said the child’s father had handed himself over at about 1am on Tuesday but was only officially arrested that night after questioning by detectives.
“After he handed himself over at the Humewood police station, he was taken to the Motherwell police station, where he was questioned and [allegedly] confessed to the killing,” Beetge said.
A formal confession under oath had been done on Tuesday night.
“The father [allegedly] said that he had fetched Fundakubi at his house and assaulted him in the street, with [other people joining in].”
Police are still trying to identify the other perpetrators.
Beetge said it was not yet known what had motivated the false rape accusation.
“We do not know yet what triggered this [claim].
“What we have established is that there was a rumour about the girl being raped, which seems to have been a catalyst in triggering the murder,” he said.
The child’s family fled their home when enraged residents – after hearing that the rape claim was false – turned their anger on them.
Motherwell cluster commander Major-General Dawie Rabie warned again on Wednesday against vigilantism.
“An innocent man was killed by angry residents based on a rumour,” he said.
“They did not even wait to verify the validity of these claims.
“We are urging our communities to give information of suspected crimes to the police and not to take the law into their own hands.
“The persons involved are killers and the police and the law will treat them as killers,” he said.
The man will appear in the Motherwell Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.
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