33-Year-Old Man And Friend “Tired Of Eating Human Flesh” Given Life Sentence

Two South African men, Nino Mbatha, 33, and Lungisani Magubane, 32 have been sentenced for life on the grounds of murder after a judge said they were guilty of “the most heinous crime”, local media reported

Sitting at the Pietermaritzburg High Court, judge Peter Olsen sentenced the two for the killing of Zanele Hlatshwayo last year, the Witness newspaper said.

Cannibal case. Photo.Chelsea Pieterse

Mbatha, a traditional healer, was arrested after handing himself in at a police station in Estcourt, a town in KwaZulu-Natal province.

He was carrying a bag containing a human leg and a hand, telling officers he was “tired of eating human flesh”.

Police refused to believe his claims until he took them to a house where more body parts were found.

A third man was acquitted on Wednesday. Seven people were initially arrested.

At earlier hearings in Estcourt, angry residents had gathered outside the courthouse to protest against the grisly murder.

South Africa has no direct law against cannibalism, but mutilating a corpse and being in possession of human tissue are criminal offences.

**AFP