Pupil survives blades of murderers

“I used to hear of ritual murders from the deep rural Venda and it made me shiver. I never thought this could at any given time happen to me, but little did I know an attempt would be made on me.”

These are the words of Andani Thovhakale (21) of Maniini, who escaped the sharp blades of ritual murderers by a whisker last Saturday evening. He is a pupil at one of the secondary schools and was walking alone from visiting friends at the nearby Muledane village when the incident happened.

“It was around 21:00 and I was walking alone when a bakkie with five guys at the back and three in front approached me and stopped abruptly next to me near the bridge. They told me to get into the vehicle, saying they will take me home,” he said. He added that he was surprised to see that the bakkie took a turn towards Tswinga, away from his home.

He said that he then overheard the men talking about cutting his private parts and sensed something bad was going to happen to him. “These guys had knives and this gave me the fright of my life.” He said that he “chose the risk of throwing myself from the speeding bakkie. I imagined myself being cut alive and felt that it was better that I throw myself and die once rather than be cut piece by piece while still alive. Fortunately, I survived with severe injuries.”

Showing the open wounds, Thovhakale added that he attempted to run to his village and that a neighbour then helped him to call the police after seeing his injuries. The police then took him to the hospital.

He said he came into the open to warn others about the dangers of walking alone in the night. “It is not safe out there any more, especially for us who are still young. There are dangerous people out there who are ready to kill at any given time for money.”

Due to logistical problems, Limpopo Mirror couldn't establish if any police investigation is underway.

Date:17 April 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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