Please arrest the killers of our child

A grief-stricken mother, who lost a child and had other members of her family seriously injured when their house was petrol-bombed, said police are failing them by not arresting the suspects.

Ms Ntambudzeni Tshikosi’s daughter, Mulweli Tshiwela (5), passed on after sustaining injuries during an attack at her aunt’s house at Mvelaphanda Ha-Khangale outside Vuwani in March. She said that she gave the police the names of a relative who threatened the family with death prior to the incident. Mulweli, a Grade R pupil at Dzwerani, was asleep with eight other family members, when unknown people came and knocked at her aunt’s house.

It is alleged that the unknown people requested that they open and come out so that they could discuss work, but the family refused. The unknown persons left, but came back at around 03:00. That is when the house was petrol-bombed. Four members of the family were seriously injured. Mulweli was airlifted to the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, where she passed on due to her injuries.

Tshikosi said there had been threats from a relative who told them a corpse would come out of their house. “After the incident happened we could not go any further to look for the suspect. We suspect the relative is the one behind the whole incident and had carried out his threat. We gave police the information, but we are surprised that days are passing without them making an arrest.”

Community leader Humbulani Nemakhavhani said the police were not taking the case seriously. “They only reacted after we have threatened to take the law into our own hands. That is when they went to the family for a statement, even though the incident happened a long time ago. We are very disappointed as a community about their conduct,” he said.

The local traditional leader, Chief Solomon Mbangiseni Khangale said he was saddened and shocked by the incident, but disappointed by the conduct of the police. He urged police to speed up their investigations, so that the perpetrators could be brought to book.

Limpopo police spokesperson Lt-Col Moatshe Ngoepe said police are hot on the heels of the suspects. He said that they are investigating cases of arson, murder and attempted murder.

Date:21 April 2018

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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