Delay in funeral adds more woes to grieving family

The burial of the suspected murder victim, Ms Lufuno Mandevu (29), which was supposed to have been held over the weekend, could not take place because tests were still being done on her body.

This has put the grief-stricken family of Ms Mandevu of Khalavha, whose body was found at the Tshilavulu mountains in the Mutale area, under severe strain. They say that, besides having to cope with the pain of having their loved one killed, they now have to live in suspense, not knowing whether it is her body or not. For almost two weeks now the family has been waiting for DNA test results that will confirm whether it is her body or not.

Mandevu, who worked at one of the garages in Thohoyandou, went missing on 27 December 2016 after visiting a prophet at Bashasha in the Mutale area. She was last seen with him.

Residents went in search of her in bushes in the area, but they always pointed fingers at the prophet, who was on the run by then. The prophet, Richard Mlambo, was arrested in Musina and while waiting to be deported as an illegal immigrant, he was charged with murder.

According to the police, Mlambo pointed out where Mandevu’s body was and was charged with murder. He is a Zimbabwean national and appeared at the Tshilamba Magistrate’s Court last Monday. The case was postponed to 3 March. He remains in custody.

 “It is now more than two weeks that my sister’s body has been lying at the mortuary. Our hands are tied by technical hitches and we cannot bury her, because she has not been identified via DNA tests,” said the brother of the deceased, Mr Khathu Mandevu. He added that it was taking a toll on them, “as our lives have come to a complete halt.”

Mandevu further indicated that the funeral would hopefully take place over the weekend after the results are made known. He added that they had suffered enough and that they would like to move on with their lives, even though it would be hard for them to forget what had happened to his sister.

Date:28 January 2017

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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