Man accused of beheading his brother, dies in hospital

A month ago, the residents of Tshidimbini village outside Thohoyandou were shocked by the news that a mentally ill man had allegedly chopped off his brother’s head and displayed it on a huge rock for everyone to see. This week, they were confronted with another death, but this time, that of the alleged killer.

The initial incident happened on 13 May. The suspect, Avhashoni Matshili (38), was arrested the same day and appeared in the Thohoyandou Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, 15 May. He was charged with the murder of his elder brother, Doctor Matshili (41). His case was postponed to 27 June for arrangements to be made for his mental observation.

Sadly, he will not be appearing as scheduled. On Monday, 10 June, the community woke up to the sad news of his passing. What had caused his death was not disclosed. Matshili was in custody at the Thohoyandou Correctional Centre but was admitted to the Donald Fraser Hospital on Sunday (9^th) to be treated for an undisclosed illness.

His death is a terrible blow to the family, who buried his elder brother last month. The late man’s father, Mr Tshililo Matshili, who is a traditional healer, said the death had taken him by surprise.

“The death comes barely a month after the death of my eldest son. I have not even recovered from the shock. To add salt to the wound, I was not informed of his mental illness, which I understand started in 2001. Had I known about this earlier, I would have done something to help him as I have been helping others through my traditional healing calling. I am so saddened that family members knew about this all along but kept this away from my knowledge for such a long time. I wanted to visit him in prison, but his sister told me he was admitted to the local hospital, and I could not visit him,” he said.

Matshili discounted the contention that he had not been on good terms with his children. “I have done all that is expected of a father for my children. As a family, we buried his brother, and we are now preparing to bury him on Saturday, 15 June,” Matshili said.

Date:14 June 2024

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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