Angry residents attack elderly woman

Angry residents at Hamangilasi outside Vuwani went on the rampage on Saturday, attacking an elderly woman and trying to burn down her house.

Allegations against the gogo are that she took her neighbour to a drinking hole where she allegedly poisoned her while they were drinking. The victim allegedly died after consuming poisoned liquor.

The huge group from all over the village went to the suspect's home and assaulted her and it was only the timely arrival of the police that saved her from certain death. She was whisked away in a police van after police fired teargas to disperse the angry residents.

For the rest of Saturday, the house belonging to Mukatshelwa Ramabulana was under heavy police guard. On Sunday, the community regrouped and went to the gogo's house, which was not guarded at the time. They broke the windows and later set the house on fire; nothing was saved from the house.

As if that was not enough, the angry mob went to the houses of two relatives of the old granny and they completely gutted the houses in broad daylight. One of the pathetic and touching scenarios during the mayhem was the destruction of the house of the daughter of the granny. She stayed with her three children, who are of school-going age.

During a visit by the newspaper to the house, children were seated next to the burnt-down house, while their mother was away checking on her mother, who was in a local hospital. One of the children said the incident had traumatised them. “It was at about 11:00 when groups (of people) came to our house from different directions. Without saying anything, they started thrashing windows and ultimately torched the house with burning newspapers. We were watching from a distance and saw what happened. It is so painful because we did nothing to the community; we understand the community's plight and accusations that our grandmother had poisoned a person.”

She said that they were in no way involved in this incident but were left in a shock. “We are a very poor family. We are left with only a few belongings, with uniforms and books burnt in the fire,” he said.

Vuwani police spokesperson W/O Elijah Malatjie confirmed the incidents. "We received a tip-off about the incident and we rushed to a house, where we rescued the old woman. Unfortunately, three houses were burnt the following day." Malatjie added that the police had opened three arson cases and one of assault to cause grievous bodily harm. At the time of our going to press, no one had been arrested yet.

Malatjie sent a stern warning to residents not to take the law into their own hands but to report all incidents of crime to the police. “Taking the law into one's own hands is an offence on its own and those involved will themselves face criminal charges. We urge our communities to refrain from such practices as many people are becoming victims.”

He further said that the alleged poisoning had not been reported to the police.

Date:12 August 2016

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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