Davids was killed like a dog - eyewitnesses

Sorilatholo settlement is 58 kilometres north of Letlhakeng. It is where Kutlwano Rakgare, 31, stays. She is the girlfriend of Petros Jabulani Dube, 31, a Zimbabwean from Plumtree, who had been working for Isaacs for over 15 years as a herdboy and a part-time builder. Dube and fellow herdboy Mokgalemi Maleya, 32, from Ramotswa, killed the ruling Botswana Democratic Party legislator on Sunday by stabbing him with a knife all over his body. They were working for him at his Lematswe farm, which is a stone’s throw away from Sorilatholo.

The two appeared before Molepolole Magistrate court on Tuesday, each facing a single count of murder. They will return to court on January 30, 2018. ‘He was a very strict man’ Just before arriving in Sorilatholo, The Sun team met a man in his late 50s who was from the nearby cattlepost. Known as Lefatshe Modimowabatho, he said he was Rakgare’s uncle and was going to Sorilatholo to hear what happened concerning the terrible incident. He said he heard about it on Sunday afternoon after seeing two speeding vans passing by his farm, only to learn that one was carrying the MPs body and the other driven by police officers. He did not beat about the bush about Davids, whom he called ‘Fucken Bastard’ and not the popular Fokon Bastard.

“He was a god in this area. We all feared him. He was untouchable. It is a shame that he had to be killed by his own herdboys,” said Modimowabatho. He added that the MP cared about no one in the settlement and its vicinities and hurled insults and cursed at anyone who dared to say a word to him. “Actually he used to tell us that his Fucken Bastard name came from his ‘don’t-mess-up-with-me’ attitude,” he said. The man also revealed that Dube on the other had, also had a bad temper despite having been able to put up with an employer he always complained about, especially about either not paying him at all, or paying little than was due.

“He was generally physically and emotionally abusive and had on several occasions threatened to stab my niece with a knife,” he said of the accused, adding that he might have reached a point where he had decided enough was enough. Upon reaching the sandy and dusty settlement, The Sun team saw a group of four youthful men standing under a tree with their donkeys. They happened to be Modimowabatho’s nephews. They also referred to the MP as ‘Fucken Bastard.’ They jumped at being interviewed, with the first speaker, Obonye Modimowabatho, saying they were still reeling in shock after the brutal murder. He said that the knife used by Dube and Mokgalemi was very big.

“They had an argument at Neo’s drinking spot where Fucken Bastard found them that Sunday morning. And they started chasing him, beating him with fists and finally stabbed him all over his body. Even when he sprawled on the ground with blood gushing, they continued stabbing him and kicking him,” he said. Obonye revealed that he knew the relationship between Dube and Davids pretty well as he had also worked for him. He said that he had quit work unannounced as the MP never paid him a single Thebe during his six months at his farm.

“He always insulted us using words like ‘mos**o, ma******, F**k you idiots, and told us to go to hell. I worked for him twice but he was never approachable or fatherly. I feared him,” said the 33 year old. Another man, Olebogile Modimowabatho said the two herd-men continued to kick Davids even when they saw that he was dead. “Theirs was an unhealthy relationship. They were always fighting and he treated them like trash. Actually, he treated everyone like nothing. He did not know how to control his tongue and had a mean look,’’ he said. Mmolotsi Modimowabatho said the MP arrived at the shebeen and hurled a big log at Mokgalemi’s back, accusing the two herd-men of not being at work and drinking during working hours. “All hell broke loose instantly and it was as if they had been ready for him. They told him they were fed up with his abusive ways,” he said.

GIRLFRIENDSPEAKS

For Rakgare, the relationship between Dube and Davids was always toxic. She revealed that Dube, the father of her seven year-old daughter whom she had dated for ten years, arrived in Sorilatholo on Thursday evening complaining of fever. She said the MP would later call on Friday morning instructing Dube to go back to the farm as he was coming on Sunday morning to load cattle for sale. But Dube had also come to look for some of the cattle that had strayed in Sorilatholo. Dube decided to call his fellow employee from the farm to come with horses so that they could go back together with the missing cattle, which he did. The two men agreed rather to leave on Sunday. Then on Sunday around 6am, Davids phoned Dube again reminding him to be ready with the cattle. Rakgare said she went to Letlhakeng leaving the two herd-men in Sorilatholo, only to receive a call around 2pm that Dube had killed the MP. Describing the relationship between her boyfriend and his master, Rakgare said Dube led a miserable life at the hands of Davids. “The MP was rough, rude, not humane and always fighting. He didn’t pay Petros well and he didn’t give him off or leave days, even during Christmas. My boyfriend was also a builder and he never got paid for all the building projects he did for Davids,” she said. She stated that although his monthly salary was P1 500, Dube always complained that the MP paid him P500 and delayed as he would give him money around the 10th or so. Before the murder, she said the two men last fought at the farm late last year when they were fixing a borehole engine. Talking about their love life, Rakgare said they had a normal relationship like other couples where there is fighting and making up. But she explained that Dube is short tempered, especially when drunk. Neo Phemelo, the shebeen queen at the murder scene, said she was busy with her goats inside a nearby kraal when she realised that the MP and his employees involved in a fight. It was then that she made a move to go to the scene, but upon arrival, Davids’ bloodied body was lying on the ground between her passage and Rakgare’s. She said that the two herd-men were still kicking and stabbing him. Pointing at her bloodstained 25 litre water bottle and wooden fence, the mother of four said she could not sleep as she was haunted by flashbacks from the scene.