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One of the burnt houses belonging to suspects in the ritual murder case in Mbilwi.

“No place for ritual murderers in our area” - Gole Mphaphuli

 

Barely a week after the police posted a R100 000 reward for information on the alleged ritual murder of Nyelisani Mphaphuli (60), the saga took yet another turn.

Angry residents went on the rampage on Sunday, barricading roads with big boulders, torching a house belonging to a person they believe is one of the suspects and damaging two other houses in the village.

This was after a meeting called to give feedback about the demands made by the community three weeks ago. The meeting was supposed to have been held at the local tribal offices but could not go ahead as residents feared there was muti at the venue. It was later held at the local sports field.

The feedback was not well received by the residents, who then demanded that the suspects be questioned.

A sister of the deceased, who was at Tshakhuma, had to be fetched there to come and answer questions. She allegedly mentioned the names of people who had been involved in the killing. Out of fear for their safety, the leadership decided to take her and another of the suspects to the police station at Sibasa.

That same night, angry community members went on the rampage, burning a house and damaging three others and a car.

Thovhele Gole Mphaphuli reacted angrily to the latest development. "Ritual murders are a great concern here in our area, and I had made it clear to my subjects that whoever was found to be involved would be summarily expelled from the village. If it turns out that they are positively linked, prosecuted and convicted, they must just know that they are not coming back here. I do not have a place for ritual murderers here. I want my people to live in peace and not in fear of being killed in the most barbaric manner," he said.

He further commended residents for having taken a bold stand to fight the scourge of ritual murders in the village. "Now that there is evidence, the ball is in the police's court and we just hope that they will work hard to bring this matter, which has become a source of discontent in the village, to a speedy conclusion," he said.

Community leader Thikhathali Nndanganeni said the community was angry. "We had to take some of the identified people to the police for their safety. On Tuesday, we had a meeting with the police and the traditional leadership from the villages. We just hope this will normalise the situation and that we will have progress in the cases," he said.

Meanwhile, the police have come out strongly against residents' taking the law into their own hands. Limpopo police spokesperson Brig Hangwani Mulaudzi said there had been massive destruction and burning of property belonging to suspects in the case. "We are very worried that people are now getting out of hand. What worries us most is that, instead of working with us, community members are now taking the law into their own hands and damaging property, based on speculation and gossip. We are not just going to stand by when there is lawlessness in the community, but we will make sure that those involved in these acts of thuggery be brought to book," he said.

He added that three houses belonging to suspected killers had been damaged and one had been burnt to ashes. He said they were now housing eight people at the police station for their safety. "We believe there is someone somewhere who knows about this murder. We are making an appeal for information as we would like to conclude this case as a matter of urgency," he added.

He said charges of public violence and arson had been opened in connection with the weekend's incident.

Ritual murders are becoming a menace in the Vhembe region, with two other cases being heard in the Malamulele and Thohoyandou area. Nyelisani Mphaphuli (60) was found killed on 3 May 2014. She was killed in a very cruel way, with her eyes gouged out, her tongue cut off and skin removed from her face.

It is alleged that the police arrived at the scene and some members of the community had given them the names of the suspects, but the suspects were not arrested.

 

 

Date:05 September 2014

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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