Grief and shock after father kills son over sausage

The community of Himeville in Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal is reeling in shock after a father killed his son for frying boerewors.

Boerewors is a type of sausage which originated in South Africa made from coarsely minced beef (sometimes combined with minced pork, lamb, or both) and spices (usually toasted coriander seed, black pepper, nutmeg, cloves and allspice).

According to local-based reports in South Africa, it is alleged that Bhekinkosi Mchunu (39) killed his son Ntando Mchunu (22) after Ntando came home drunk and ate all his boerewors on Sunday night.

One of the neighbours privy to the incident says what irked Bonginkosi was that he took a large chunk of wors from the fridge and fried it. 

“Mchunu came back from work and when he found his son frying a big chunk of wors a fight ensued, with the angry father using all sorts of objects to assault his son,” the neighbour said.

The neighbour further said that it will take them some time to forget the gruesome scene that they witnessed. “Ever since I was born I have never seen something like that. Ntando was badly injured and he had a big scar in his forehead that looked like an iron rod was used. It was traumatic,” the neighbour said.

According to the neighbour the father was arrested on the same day and made his first appearance at the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.

According to a Durban-based IsiZulu newspaper, Ntando’s uncle Steven Zakwe confirmed the incident and said that it was shocking that Mchunu went as far as killing his son for boerewors.

“Mchunu told me that he disciplined Ntando on the night of the incident when I asked him about a fight that was reported to me. He never mentioned to me that Ntando had passed away because of the injuries he suffered. We are disturbed by this incident but we have faith in our justice system,” he said.

KZN SAPS spokesperson Colonel Nqobile Gwala confirmed the incident.