SICK WOMAN ‘SOLD’ FOR R1 200Aunt blames her sister for Fikile’s troubles

By THOKOZANI MAGAGULA
SHE is an orphan, mentally retarded and can’t
speak or walk properly . . . and it appears she has
been sold off to a Zimbabwean for R1 200!
Fikile Lentsoalo, who is now 25 years old, lived with
her parents in Vaalbank, Mpumalanga.But in 2007
her parents died, and,
according to her aunt, life went from bad to worse
for the young woman.Aunt Joyce Coka (45)
saidFikile’s sister,
Gloria Shiburi took all Fikile’s parents’ possessions
and sold them."Gloria said she had a will that gave
her all the goods.
"But after selling everything else, she also sold
Fikile!”Joyce said Gloria and her cop husband,
Edward Shiburi,
who is the station commander at Vaalbank Police
Station, gave Fikile to a Zimbabwean national,
Siyabonga Thabe,
as his "wife” for R1 200. "Fikile tried to run away
from the man, but Gloria found her and whipped
her with copper cable.
She returned her to Siyabonga - in handcuffs."She
was pregnant at the time and had a miscarriage,”
said Joyce.
"It did not take long before she fell pregnant
again.”Joyce said Fikile ran away in
February with her baby and they decided to get a
protection order and to lay charges against
Siyabonga, Gloria and Edward.
Siyabonga said he met Fikile while he worked at the
Shiburi household in December last year.
He said he was asked for lobola of R5 000, but he
could only afford R1 200.
"Shiburi and his wife accepted the R1 200, and I
took her as my wife,” he said.
Gloria denied that she married Fikile off to
Siyabonga, but said she fined him R5 000 for
raping her.
She made him sign an agreement that he would
look after her."The money was not for lobola, but a
fine,” said Gloria.