Family see red after Ravhura is granted bail

Members of the Khomola family were very dissatisfied after a former security officer was granted bail by the Thohoyandou Magistrate’s Court last Thursday. Lufuno Ravhura, who was arrested for allegedly fatally shooting a 43-year-old man at Makonde Mountain on 1 March this year, was released after paying the R5,000 bail.

Ravhura, from Makonde village, is accused of shooting and killing Mpheletshedzeni Samuel Khomola, from the nearby Matangari village, while they were allegedly hunting for wild animals on the mountain. His case has been postponed to 4 August for ballistic test results.

Giving judgment, Magistrate Mike Maiwashe emphasised that his getting bail did not mean the case was over, referring to the case of Oscar Pistorius, who was given bail but later found guilty and convicted of shooting his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.

Immediately after the magistrate had granted the accused bail, the late Mpheletshedzeni Samuel Khomola’s sisters started crying in court and had to be calmed down by other family members.

Rudzani Khomola, the deceased’s youngest sister, said that the court was told that the accused had three children and a wife to support, and he was working. “My late brother has seven children and two wives. Ravhura has been granted bail to go and work for his family, while my brother’s kids have no father to fend for them anymore. No one is working at home. Who is going to support his family?” she asked.

The deceased’s uncle, Mr Edson Netshishivhe, also expressed his dismay at the bail amount. “I am feeling terrible pain. I went to the crime scene where he was killed. Our son’s body was riddled with bullets. His body was also dragged for about 20 metres and hidden under a tree stump. Now the suspect is granted only R5,000 bail. I don’t know anything about the law, but I feel the bail is too small as the murder was not accidental but premeditated,” he said.

Date:14 June 2024

By: Victor Mukwevho

Victor Mukwevho Ne-vumbani joined the Mirror during it's inception in 1990. He joined the SABC newsroom in 1995, and was known by  listeners as "A u fhedzisela ari". He was a news editor for The Tembisan Newspaper from 2007 to 2015. He rejoined the Limpopo Mirror newspaper in June 2022 as a freelance journalist.

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