Well-known farmer found dead in bushes: Another ritual murder?

The closely knit village of Tshaulu-Dimani outside Thohoyandou is in deep shock, following the discovery of a mutilated body of a well-known local resident.

Mr Alfred Mudau (47), a staunch ZCC member who was also a well-known small scale farmer along the Luvuvhu River, left home early last Tuesday for his garden. He never came back home. On Wednesday, family members, the community and the police looked everywhere and his body was eventually found at Tshifudi Gonela, about two kilometres from his garden.

The incident left the family traumatised even though he had apparently told them about his death before it happened. Mr Tshianeo Mudau, a brother of the deceased said besides having sore hearts because of the death, the family is very worried about the conduct of the Tshaulu police.

“First they told us to go to Tshilidzini for a post-mortem and when we reached the hospital, we were told that we were not allowed to enter the laboratory where the post-mortem was held. We are convinced that our brother was ritually murdered because of the blood under his pants, but we wanted to see if his body parts are still intact. The police, however, refused us entry,” he said.

According to him, they are now extremely suspicious that something is being hidden from the family. “We paid a lot of money for transport to be witnesses, but they allowed strangers to enter and refused the family to do so,” he added. He said that they have a lot of questions. “We are not sure as to whether we are going to bury a full body or whether there are some parts missing. We need answers from the police,” he said.

His sister Selinah Mudau said her brother had a premonition about his death. “In March he came to my house and told me someone very close to him told him that he would not see the end of this year. He told me that a friend very close to him wants to see him dead and he was crying when he left.”

Limpopo Mirror visited the village on Wednesday and found the family busy preparing for the funeral. Mr Nelson Gabara, a close family member said they were planning to bury him on Friday (today). “He is from the royal family and we have to bury him on a Friday in accordance with our culture,” said Mr Fhumulani Matibe, a close relative.

Tshaulu police spokesperson, W/O Cedrick Mphoshomali said they have opened a murder case. “Initially it was an inquest, but the doctor gave a directive for the investigation to change to a murder investigation after the post-mortem results became available. We have not arrested anybody so far, but our investigations are continuing,” he added.

Date:12 June 2015

By: Silas Nduvheni

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