It was time, said the witness, for him to tell the whole truth about the awful things he had done.
Moments before testifying this week at an inquest into one of South Africa’s deadliest house fires, he pulled an investigator aside and said he had to change his story. It was he, he said, who had started the August 31 fire that engulfed a five-storey building in central Johannesburg.
Weeping as he spoke, Sithembiso Mdlalose, 30, told a room full of stunned listeners that he strangled a man on the ground floor of the overcrowded, abandoned residence and set the body on fire.
Following this confession in questioning, Mr Mdlalose was arrested by the police, who are conducting a parallel criminal investigation into the fire, and charged with 76 counts of murder. But as he made his first criminal court appearance on Thursday, plenty of confusion and mystery remained surrounding this shocking twist in a tragedy that drew international attention to the appalling living conditions of thousands of people in buildings in one of Africa’s richest cities.
While Mr. Mdlalose’s confession to the investigation is inadmissible, prosecutors said, his confession will strengthen the criminal investigation.
Mr Mdlalose, who said he lived in the building, appeared out of sorts to lawyers and activists working with some of the building’s former residents, many of whom largely said they did not know him. He was one of several witnesses to speak at the inquest, which began in October.
Before his appearance at the inquest, he gave a handwritten statement to the police that stopped far short of what he eventually admitted. In his deposition, obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Mdlalose confessed to being one of several criminals who sold drugs in the building, but implied that others killed the original victim and set him on fire.
Mr Mdlalose gave this statement to the police about a month ago. A spokeswoman for the South African Police Service declined to comment when asked why he had not been arrested earlier.
Some victims’ advocates fear that Mr. Mdlalose’s bombshell testimony this week could obscure the broader failures that led to the fire, which the inquiry aims to uncover. Testimony so far has revealed that the illegally occupied building, which is owned by the city, was full of fire hazards that officials failed to address, said Nigel Branken, an immigrant rights activist who is working with fire survivors.
“The concern I have is that the city says, ‘Okay, we’ve got somebody,’ and they can take on their obligations,” Mr. Branken said.
“The city is responsible for more of the deaths than the guy who started the fire,” he added.
Mlimandlela Ndamase, spokesperson for the mayor of Johannesburg, urged caution before jumping to judgement.
“Let’s wait for the investigation to be completed and then we will understand what responsibility or liability lies with whom,” he said.
This week, guilt and fear led Mr Mdlalose to confess to setting the fire, according to Nomzamo Zondo, executive director of the Institute for Socio-Economic Rights, who was present at the inquest hearing. Another person who was there but was not authorized to comment said Mr Mdlalose had taken one of the presenters aside and said he wanted to tell the truth.
Mr Mdlalose, whose age was given by police earlier this week as 29, spoke at the inquest behind closed doors fearing criminals operating in the building would kill him, but lawyers and activists in the room told his story to Continuity. .
He testified that he was working for a drug dealer when he was called to rough up a man who had argued with the dealer, observers said. Mr Mdlalose, who said he was high on methamphetamine at the time, said he found the man already bound, with a bag over his head, in a room in the building.
He beat the man until he was unconscious and covered in blood and only when he took out the bag did he recognize the man, he said. Panicking that he would be identified if the man survived, he told the inquest, he strangled him with his bare hands, then doused the body in petrol and set fire to the room to cover up his crime.
In an earlier written statement to the police, Mr Mdlalose admitted to beating the man along with others. He said in that statement that the man, who was left slumped in a chair, died from his injuries. He and his accomplices poured gasoline on the man’s body and around the room, but left without starting a fire, the statement said.
At the public inquiry, Mr Mdlalose said he decided to clean up when someone who saw him carrying the petrol into the building convinced him to surrender. This witness testified at the inquest a day earlier.
In court Thursday as an accused criminal, wearing a faded khaki parka with fluff in his hair, Mr. Mdlalose barely spoke in a whisper as the judge explained the lengthy prison sentence he now faced on multiple counts of murder, attempted murder and arson.
Phindi Mjonondwane, a spokeswoman for the prosecution, said prosecutors were open to a plea deal.
For his own safety, Mr Mdlalose will remain in a private cell, said his defense lawyer, Dumisani Mabunda. The investigation could take years, he warned, adding that his client was willing to cooperate with police.
