Khubvi's well-known bottle and tin collector murdered

The Nekhumbe family and the Khubvi community have been plunged into deep mourning after the death of the village’s well-known bottle and tin collector, Ms Tshitereke Joyce Nekhumbe.

Nekhumbe (61)’s lifeless, bloodied body was found by passers-by in the grass next to the road at Makonde on Easter morning, 15 April, at around 06:00. She had a deep gash on her neck and her purse (muhwete) and all its contents were missing.

Her youngest daughter, Ms Thembuluwo Nekhumbe, said that her mother had been a tin and bottle collector for most of her life. “We grew up living on the money she made from selling used bottles and old tins. Over Christmas, Easter and other busy holidays, she would spend the whole night out doing her own collections, and sleep during the day. On that particular day, she left home at around 05:00. She had already collected a lot by then,” she said.

Nekhumbe said her mother had asked one of her sons to accompany her, but the son wanted to sleep in a bit as he was tired. “She left the house alone. It was around 07:00 when relatives conveyed the sad news. We rushed to the scene, where we found the police already there. They asked me to identify her, and I did. The situation was bad, with blood everywhere. She was still bleeding from a big wound on her neck when her body was taken away. Her dog, who we believe was also attacked, as he was limping, was there,” Nekhumbe said.

Her mother’s death, she said, was the worst cruelty she had ever seen. “I have no doubt it was for her money, as she always carried her money with her. My older sister told me she had more than R1 500. I gave her about R600, which means that she must have had more than R2 000 on her. We lack words to express our grief,” she said.

Vhamusanda Vho-Thinawanga Randima was very dismayed over the killings in his area. “This is quite disturbing. We urge the community to be vigilant, but not to take the law into their own hands. We have put up suggestion boxes at our offices that could be utilised without identifying the person with information. Let us work together with the police and stop this criminality,” he said.

The police have opened a murder case and request anyone with information to please contact Sgt Thabo Malapela at 060 852 8283 or Captain Rasilingwana Mawela at 082 414 7763.

Date:22 April 2022

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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