Chaos during Chavani’s court appearance

The situation at and around the Saselamani Magistrate's Courts nearly turned ugly when hundreds of angry, protesting residents took to the streets and had running battles with the police.

This was during the appearance of traffic officer Masingita Chavani (45) and the 22-year-old Steven Sithole. The two are charged with kidnapping and child stealing relating to the disappearance of the 17-year old Hlulani Maswanganyi and her one-month-old son, Timothy Mbavala.

The baby was found alive, but almost three weeks after the incident happened, the mother of the child has not been traced.

Two weeks ago, the traffic officer confessed to having killed the 17-year-old woman and led the police on a wild goose chase, taking them to rivers and mountains, saying she had dumped the body there, but all the police searches were in vain.

Outside the court on Monday, hundreds of residents were waving anti-Masingita placards. Out of the thousands who nearly caused a stampede outside, only 30 people were allowed inside the court. Casually dressed in a tracksuit, Masingita did not say anything and the case was postponed to 12 November 2015 for further investigations.

This was not received well by members of the family, who were crying outside the court. “We are tired of these postponement. What we need is the body or the person. We need our loved one. This woman is taking us and the police for a ride. She has said many different things and in all instances what she said was found not to be true. They must bring police from outside who will deal with her accordingly, so that she will point out the body of our loved one,” said Ms Dyna Maluleke, aunt of the missing woman.

Vhembe ANC Woman’s League members were also picketing outside the court. They made it clear that the woman should not be granted bail. “We have told the senior police officials not to treat the case like any other case, but to give it higher priority. There is a life that is missing here and we are happy that a special team has been assigned. Hopefully, by the end of the week they will have done something,” said Ms Florence Radzilani, the regional chairperson of the women’s league.

After it was announced that the case had been postponed, angry residents started barricading the streets with stones and other objects. They made it clear they would not leave the court until Masingita came out and showed them where she had dumped the body. The police had to use teargas to disperse the angry protestors, and throughout the day they had running battles with youths who did not want to go home.

A family spokesperson, Mr Wilson Mahlaule, said the family wanted the traffic officer to point out where the mother of the child had been buried. Almost all the businesses in the town were closed the whole day.

In another development, the traffic officer took the police to the house of a well-known traditional healer, Hasani Johaness Chauke of Matiyani,  at the weekend, claiming she had left the body at the house. Chauke (57), popularly known as Chafere, was taken away by the police after they failed to find the body of the missing woman. Chauke alleges that the police tortured him, trying to force him to confess to the killing. “I am still in shock. I do not even know what these people are talking about. We do not use body parts here; our aim is to help our clients with herbs and nothing more."

Police spokesperson warrant officer Sam Matsimbi confirmed there was a scene outside the police station but said the police managed to control the situation.

Date:02 November 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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