Face of a monster?

Villagers of Matangari outside Thohoyandou are still trying to come to terms with the news that one of their own community members had allegedly hacked his 104-year-old grandmother to death with an axe because she had spat into his water cup.

The incident took place on 13 January this year at around 18:20 at Matangari (Tshiumoni) location. According to Limpopo police spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo, the 42-year-old Thanyani Justice Alilali and his grandmother, Ms Nyamueni Alilali, had been seated in the kitchen of their mud hut. Also present was Thanyani’s mother, Ms Phophi Alilali.

Thanyani’s mother allegedly went outside to fetch clothes from the washing line. On her return to the hut, she found the old woman lying on the floor in a pool of blood. Her son was seen running away, towards the fence.

The old woman was later certified as dead and Alilali was arrested that same night. When the police questioned him about the incident, he allegedly told them that he had seen his grandmother spit into his cup. This angered him so much that he took an axe and hacked her to death.

According to the regional spokesperson for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in Limpopo, Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi, Alilali briefly appeared in court after his arrest, but he was without legal representation. A sombre Alilali, dressed in a white blazer and black trousers, appeared in the Thohoyandou Magistrates Court for the second time on Friday, 5 March, this time represented by Nemadzhilili Attorneys. The case was postponed until 3 May for further police investigation, while Alilali remains in custody.

The incident had a massive impact on members of the Matangari village, especially on those who have known and lived close to Alilali for many years.

Khosi Mutulagole Nyamande, the traditional leader of Matangari village, told Limpopo Mirror that this turn of events was tragic. “I grew up with him (Alilali) in the village,” he said and described Alilali as a “handsome one” and a promising soccer player. “But things changed after he got involved with drugs and alcohol. We would call him to the chief’s kraal and reprimand him, as he was terrorizing his grandmother and the community. We cannot allow him to stay in the village anymore. We want him to rot in jail as he proved to be a danger to us all with his bad behaviour.”

Nyamande said that the incident had shocked the community and surrounding villages, and that Alilali clearly had “no sense of humanity or morals”. He urged law enforcement not to grant Alilali bail after the gruesome act that he had allegedly committed.

His elder sister, Ms Azwinndini Alilali, who no longer lived with him, said that the incident had upset the family deeply. She said that their mother, who had found the old woman killed in the hut, was at breaking-point and severely traumatized. “We thought it would do him (Alilali) good if he stayed with our grandmother and take care of her until God called her. Look, the old granny was 104 years old and needed proper care, but my younger brother didn’t bother!”

No one in the village seems to remember Alilali as a troublemaker before he started the substance abuse.

The leader of the civic association in Matangari village, Mr Thilivhali Mavhungu, who also grew up with him, described Alilali as a “cool and collected guy”. He said that they used to play soccer together as children and that Alilali never fought with anyone. He could not believe it when he heard that Alilali had allegedly killed his grandmother.

Mr Paulos Mudau, another childhood acquaintance of Alilali, was just as shocked over the horrific incident. He said that they used to share soccer skills, as Alilali had loved soccer since they had been little boys.

Date:12 March 2021

By: Silas Nduvheni

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