Tshitale crowd bay for blood of murder suspect

Feelings ran high in the Tshitale Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, 17 October, when Lufuluvhi Munene, who is accused of stabbing his girlfriend in the head and killing her at Pfananani village earlier this month, made his appearance. Hundreds of angry demonstrators demanded that he be handed over to them for mob justice.

Munene (30) and his girlfriend, Takalani Mashau (27), had allegedly had an argument, which had led to a fight and ended in Munene’s stabbing her in the head. Her body was discovered on Thursday, 5 October, by a neighbour who had heard the couple fighting the previous day and gone over to her house to make sure she was alright.

Munene seemed nervous when he entered the fully packed court on Tuesday. Because of the huge crowd, only close family members of the deceased and the local leadership were allowed into the courtroom. Demonstrators sang and danced outside while the court proceedings continued. Police had to step in when the demonstrators wanted to gain entry to take a glance at the suspect.

Munene’s case was postponed to 23 October for a bail application.

The deceased woman’s brother, Mr Wisani Mashau, told Limpopo Mirror that they had heaved a big sigh of relief when Munene had been denied bail. “I know that my sister will never come back, but I am relieved that the suspect is behind bars. We will be waiting for justice to take its course. If found guilty, the suspect must spend the rest of his life in jail, because he does not belong in this society. I am very impressed by the support we are getting from the community, because it shows that this tragedy has touched everyone,” he said.

Date:20 October 2023

By: Kaizer Nengovhela

Kaizer Nengovhela started writing stories for Limpopo Mirror in 2000. Prior to that he had a five year stint at Phala-Phala FM as sports presenter. In 2005 Kaizer received an award from the province's premier as Best Sports Presenter. The same year he was also nominated as Best Sports Reporter by the Makhado Municipality. Kaizer was awarded the Mathatha Tsedu award in 2014.

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