A neighbourhood watch committee member from Ndawana village in St Paul, Lupane, is lucky to be alive after he was stabbed thrice while attempting to apprehend a suspected criminal.
The incident which occurred last Friday, left Mluleki Moyo (42) with life threatening injuries after he was stabbed three times on the stomach which left his intestines protruding.
Moyo was rushed to Mpilo Hospital where he underwent an emergency operation.
The suspect (name supplied), is still on the run.
Narrating his ordeal from his hospital bed, a visibly-in-pain Moyo said he was stabbed on the left side of his abdomen, back and navel.
He said the suspect was trying to run away from the neighbourhood watch’s custody when he took out a knife and stabbed him.
“The neighbourhood committee team was helping out at Phunyuka Primary School, which was holding a fundraising event, providing security and doing other miscellaneous jobs. I was with colleagues Nkosi Mgoba, Green Moyo, Jabula Sibanda and Pius Nyathi.
We were then alerted about one suspect who had broken into the home of one woman and raped her. We managed to capture the suspect and placed him in one of the classrooms, which was to be temporarily used as a holding cell before handing over to authorities,” he said.
During the course of the fundraising event, Moyo and his colleagues attended to another matter involving two men brawling over earphones and again managed to apprehend them.
“It was after arresting these two men that the accused came to me and requested that I release them. I refused and told him to let us be. The suspect was drinking with his mates at the school event. He even offered me alcohol and I declined but continued pestering me, wanting to talk about the release of these two men.
“Due to his incessant nagging, I reminded him that he has a pending case where he axed his brother and he was still a wanted person. I immediately arrested and cuffed him and put in the classroom with the others,” he narrated.
However, the suspect managed to break his handcuffs, broke the classroom window and jumped out.
“Unfortunately for him, when he jumped out people who were at the school event saw him and alerted me. I ran after him to arrest him again. When he saw me, he staggered towards me, I thought he was drunk since he had been drinking. I was unaware that he had taken out a knife, and he lunged at me. He fell on top of me, stabbed me on my back, abdomen side and navel. Afterwards he ran away,” Moyo said.
After he was stabbed, Moyo collapsed to the ground and his colleagues quickly attended to him and he was taken to the nearby St Paul`s Hospital.
“By the time nurses attended to me at St Paul, I had lost a lot of blood – about 2 litres. I was referred to St Lukes Hospital but was told the only available ambulance had been called to an accident scene.
“Luckily enough, Father Mkandla who oversees Mandlethu High School, a Roman Catholic School, where I also do some security work arrived. He is the one who rushed me in his car to St Lukes Hospital and I was still losing blood. Upon arrival at St Lukes Hospital, I was referred to Mpilo Hospital and an ambulance was called but I lost consciousness.
I am told I was rushed to theatre so that they can work on my intestines,” he said.
Contacted for comment, Matabeleland North Police Spokesperson, Assistant Inspector, Siphiwe Makonese, said her office was still trying to verify information from the districts.
