“Arrest all the ritual murderers”, demand angry residents from the Makonde area

The scourge of ritual murders, which became a common feature in the Vhembe region and especially in the Makonde area in the early 2000, has come back to haunt communities again.

In recent instances, the communities of Tshifudi, Tshaulu, Gaba and Tshidzini have not been spared this abomination. On Monday, thousands of residents, more specifically the youth, took to the streets in protest against alleged ritual murders in their villages. The allegations come in the midst of what residents call the continued killing of community members by organized groups of ritual murderers.

The community alleges that at least eight people have either gone missing or been murdered, allegedly at the hands muti killers. Residents cited numerous cases, one of the most striking being that of Mr Alpheus Masindi (71) of Tshaulu, who went missing in 2010 after he went to look for cattle in some nearby bushes but never returned. His herd of cattle was later found, but he was never seen again.

One of the buring cases in the villages is the recent discovery of the dead body of Nelson Netshilaphala, also from Tshaulu, who went missing on 18 July, and his dead body was found dumped in a nearby river two days later. His family and the community did not mince their words to confirm that parts of his body were missing when the body was found.

Netshilaphala’s killing led residents to spring into action after accusing the police of not doing anything to catch the killers. On Monday, everything came to a standstill, and mayhem and turmoil reigned supreme when angry villagers blockaded roads with big rocks, trees and burning tyres. The whole day and night the village was a no-go area as youths manned the barricades.

Virtually no schooling took place in the area as these youths demanded that suspects implicated in the killings be arrested. Thousands of  angry residents and pupils from local schools marched to the police station but could not get a hearing. Late in the afternoon, the police and local traditional leader Chief Bohwana arrived at the spot where the residents had gathered. Bohwana wanted to address the community, but it was impossible to do so and only the leaders from the villages were taken to the local police station for a meeting.

In all the cited cases, residents accuse the police of complicity as they believe some might be involved in the cases, which is allegedly the reason they had not arrested any of the suspects.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a resident from one of the villages said the police had not made a breakthrough in any of the cases. “We are sick and tired of being killed by faceless killers who use human body parts for personal gain. Many of our relatives and friends have been killed for muti purposes and we will make this place ungovernable if they do not arrest suspects. We want all the killers to be arrested. They are known here in the community, and if they are not arrested, we will take the law into our own hands,” he said.

Residents say they would be happy if the entire investigative team at Tshaulu were transferred to other areas. “They are not of help to us and it would be better if they are taken somewhere and not work here where they are known and have vested interests in cases,” said a resident.

Tshaulu police spokesperson W/O Tshilidzi Mphoshomali confirmed that the situation was volatile but under control. "We had a meeting with community stakeholders where they complained about cases not being investigated thoroughly. We have reached an agreement that the three cases be handled from cluster level and transferred from Tshaulu. The burning case that is still under investigation is that of an old woman from Gaba who was murdered in March this year."

He added that they had opened another case of the man who went missing and was found dead after two days. "We initially opened an inquest docket, but later changed it to murder after post mortem results indicated it was murder. There is also a case of a man who was found floating in a river in July this year."

Mphoshomali said that they were worried about the way people were conducting themselves, saying the hooligan element had taken over the situation, with looting being the order of the day. "We have received reports of two houses and a tavern being burnt to the ground, while two taverns were broken into and emptied of their contents but not burnt," he said.

Mphoshomali said the two dead people had all their body parts, but they were awaiting post mortem results in respect of the one found floating in a local river. He said they had not arrested anybody in connection with the violent situation in the area.

Date:07 August 2015

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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