MAHOOANA Setlhotlelo from Mokhotlong is demanding M2 million from 15 herdsmen for murdering his brother. In his court papers filed in the Northern Region High Court in Tšifa-li-Mali, Setlhotlelo said his brother, Molise Setlhotlelo died a horrific death after he was brutally assaulted by the men with sticks.
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He said what made it worse was the fact that Setlhotlelo was not even part of a fight that ensued but was only trying to stop those who were fighting.
But they ended up killing him and showed no remorse for their action thereafter, he said in the court papers.
Setlhotlelo also said he spent M65 000 to bury his brother.
He is demanding M500 000 for emotional shock and another M500 000 for the distress that he suffered because of the death.
He is also demanding over M1 million for loss of support.
Setlhotlelo said Molise was the only brother he had and had raised him as his own child as their parents had died while they were still young.
He said on March 6, 2022, in Moyaneng village in Mokhotlong district, one Solenzima Mafeka and some of his companions engaged in a brutal fight with 15 herdsmen over sheep that were unlawfully taken and held in custody by the herdsmen.
Setlhotlelo said Mafeka and his companions attempted to repossess the sheep and by so doing, the herdsmen acting in unison and in concert began to brutally assault them.
“As the assault was continuing, my brother arrived at the scene and tried to intervene,” he said, adding that Molise tried to stop the assaults “as much as they were getting out of hand on account of their brutality”.
Setlhotlelo told the court that his brother intervened further on the basis that Mafeka and his other companion were his close friends having been born and raised together in the same village of Moyaneng.
“Unfortunately his intervention was met with anger and stiff opposition from the herdsmen who claimed that since he was friends with the men being assaulted, he must be joined and also assaulted,” he said.
He said his brother was assaulted with fighting sticks and whipped all over his body until he died.
He said his brother even attempted to escape from his assailants but failed as the herdsmen continued to assault him with the sticks until he was completely immobilised.
When he had been immobilised, the herdsmen continued to severely strike his body with fighting sticks and whips and left him stranded and breathless on the ground.
Then after a few hours, the herdsmen recaptured Mafeka who had escaped during the assault.
Setlhotlelo said the herdsmen dragged Molise’s body in an attempt to tie him down with Mafeka only to discover that he had died.
He said the death of his brother was a result of the brutal assault that was caused on his body jointly by the herdsmen who took turns to severely strike his body with fighting sticks and whips.
“The cause of the death of my brother occurred solely as a result of the unlawful and intentional act conducted by all the herdsmen,” Setlhotlelo told the court.
Setlhotlelo said the body of his brother was struck with weapons until he lost his life.
He said the herdsmen failed to take any precautionary measures to seek medical attention on his brother’s behalf.
Setlhotlelo said ever since the gut-wrenching ordeal, the herdsmen have not shown any remorse whatsoever and have not taken any measures to pay for the funeral expenses or to compensate the family and raise his brother’s head.
As a result of that death, he said, he suffered damages for funeral expenses on account of the fact that the entire funeral and burial expenses rested solely upon his shoulders.
Setlhotlelo said he also suffered great trauma and emotional shock as a result of seeing his brother whom he raised as his own child “murdered in cold blood and left lifeless in the streets like a dog”.
He said he holds the herdsmen liable for compensation for loss of support in as much as he depended on his brother for his livelihood and for financial support.
’Malimpho Majoro
