Two 'Dead' Men Return In Transkei, South Africa

dispatch - A youth who was believed to have been stabbed to death and buried in 2005 has resurfaced in yet another mysterious return of a man from the dead in the Transkei, South Africa.

Siviwe Ntwalana, of Mthatha’s New Payne Location, turned up at one of the village’s homes, where he was given food last Thursday.

“They noticed his resemblance to our family,” said his father, Mbongolwana Ntwalana, yesterday.

His elder brother’s daughter went to check and recognised him, he said.

Ntwalana said Siviwe, born in 1983, was later taken to his home, but his mother could not believe her eyes.

“She was shocked because she knew that her son had been buried,” he said.

The village’s committee was approached and then police took him to the local hospital.

“At that time I was not at home, but when I woke up the following day family members came to ask about him,” Ntwalana said, adding that he and his family subsequently went to the hospital to look for Siviwe.

Other family members were convinced it was his son when they saw him, but Ntwalana only believed it after checking certain marks on his body.

“What made me believe was a mark where he was gored by a cow near the eye,” he said.

“We were very excited to see him again because we knew he died.”

He explained that Siviwe was stabbed by another man during a love triangle argument and reported to have been killed.

Ntwalana said his son has yet to explain where he had been.

“He has not told us where he was all along. He breaks down when he speaks.”

Superintendent Mzukisi Fatyela said police were investigating.

He said his fingerprints would be matched with those in his ID application and those of the person who was buried in 2005.

“That process will cast light on what exactly is taking place,” Fatyela said.

He added that the police would investigate what happened to the murder docket that had been opened.

This is the second such incident in just under year in Transkei.

The Daily Dispatch reported last year that hundreds of people walked long distances to hear a minibus taxi driver who claimed he returned from the dead eight years after he was buried.

Nkosinathi Ntsente, of Hluleka near Ngqeleni, was found wandering in Ngqeleni and taken home by his elderly mother and uncle last March.

Ntsente was believed to have been shot dead during taxi-related violence between the Ncedo and Border taxi associations in 2001.

Ntsente had claimed that he saw what had happened in the supposed shooting in which a person resembling him was shot and buried, as well as the vigil and funeral of his “duplicate”.

Fatyela said people claimed that it was normal for people to return from the dead. “We (as police) do not know about it. People claim it happens often. I personally don’t know it,” he said."
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Hundreds Arrive To See 'Dead Man'

dispatch - Hundreds of people have walked long distances to Hluleka in the Transkei this week to hear a minibus taxi driver who claims he returned from the dead eight years after he was buried.

The true facts of how Nkosinathi Ntsente, 39, was supposedly shot dead in taxi violence and publicly buried, and was then found wandering around a village eight years later remains a mystery.

Ntsente himself tells a story that is filled with mysticism, but comes no closer to explaining what happened.

Ntsente’s supposed “resurrection” has spread like a wildfire through Transkei, drawing crowds to his homestead.

From the early hours of the morning until late, he keeps repeating his story of how he was forced to survive on human blood, sorghum and wild berries while living in the forest.

“I’m tired of telling the same story, the whole day, every day,” he said.

It was believed Ntsente had been shot dead in 2001 during taxi-related violence between the Ncedo and Border taxi associations.

Ntsente claims the gunmen were in white minibus taxi – and that he saw it all happening. “During the shooting I saw myself standing on another side watching a person who resembled me being shot in the forehead, right knee stomach and spine.”

Ntsente said his badly injured “duplicate” was taken to St Barnabas Hospital in Libode . “I witnessed this person dying. The body was taken to the hospital’s mortuary where (it was) cut open to remove internal organs before it was kept in a fridge.”

Ntsente claims he even witnessed his night vigil and funeral and was then taken by “four female witches” to a dark forest where he met “lots of other abducted people”.

“We mostly drank blood and ate izinsipa (used sorghum) and wild berries. I was released after witches said I was too powerful for them to make me do evil things,” he said.

The news of his “awakening” broke on March 23 when his uncle, Washington Qalingoma, 59, and his elderly mother Mabhikani Ntsente found him wandering the streets in Ngqeleni and took him home.

Qalingoma said he believed Ntsente had been abducted, but could not explain why a funeral had been held. “It would be up to his father’s family to decide whether or not to open the grave in order to see what is inside the coffin,” said Qalingoma.

Mabhikani said she was only interested in taking care of her son: “I’m only happy that I have my son again after I had buried his body.”

On Monday, local minibus taxi owners threw a party at the Hluleka taxi rank to celebrate Ntsente’ s “return from the death”.

His old friend Duma Ndzendze said people in the local taxi industry were still celebrating. “We are going to support him until he fully recovers,” he said. “Right now his mind does not sound stable."