Who kills a defenceless pensioner?

"Who would kill a fragile, defenceless 89-year-old grandfather?" This is the question on many community members' lips after the mysterious death of Mr Frans Rambelani Ramaremisa.

His death has deepened the grief the family has been going through. Just a few days after the family had buried another member, the family has once again been plunged into deep mourning after the discovery of Ramaremisa's body.

Ramaremisa, a pensioner from Duthuni, was found dead by a passer-by in bushes at Tshisahulu on Thursday afternoon. His body was bruised and had some visible wounds.

How he died remains a mystery and the family and police are pinning their hopes on a post mortem that will determine the cause of death.

Family spokesperson Col George Ramaremisa, a former member of the national parliament and the then Venda Council for National Unity, said the family was still in the dark about the incident. "We have no idea as to what could have happened, but as a family we are not suspecting any foul play. We are giving space to the police to do their investigations and we are not entertaining any speculations. We hope the post mortem will shed light as to what caused his death," he said.

Ramaremisa was described as a peace-loving person who was dedicated to his family, work and his community. He worked for many years as a cleaner at the old Venda Police base in Sibasa. After his retirement some decades ago, he served as a member of the royal council at Duthuni.

During his time in the Venda police, he received an award for being the best staff member of the year. He will be remembered for his love of his family and those close to him.

Col Ramaremisa further indicated that the old man’s death was a bitter pill for the family to swallow as they were still mourning the death of another family member. "It is only three days after we had buried a family member and now this. This is too much for the family and we are greatly saddened," Ramaremisa said.

Ramaremisa is survived by five children and he will be laid to rest on Saturday (tomorrow) at Duthuni cemetery.

* Despite several calls to the police, this paper had not received any comment at the time of our going to press.

Date:10 March 2019

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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