A chilling account of a ritualistic murder by unscrupulous businessmen who wanted to promote their businesses. In this case, justice delayed has not resulted in ‘justice denied’. A triumph for the rule of law in South Africa.
‘Better late than never’.
Warning: the following article contains graphic details which may upset some readers (webmaster FVDK)
Employees blow whistle on ritual murder by bosses ‘to promote business’
A witness says he came forward 16 years later because he suffered from nightmares and would hear voices.
From left Joshua Hlako, Marcus Makgatho, Amanda Makgatho and Khumbelo Mabirimisa who have been sentenced for the murder of Ronny Makgatho. Image: Suppied: NPA
Two Limpopo businessmen and their accomplices have been jailed after their employees testified how a man was kidnapped, his body dismembered, packed and taken to various businesses to “promote their prosperity”.
The victim, Ronny Makgatho, was taken from Soshanguve to Limpopo in 2006 for the ritual murder.
The Polokwane high court has now convicted and sentenced the two businessmen, Joshua Phuthi Hlako and Marcus Maropeng Makgatho, and their co-accused, Amanda Makgatho and Khumbelo Mabirimisa.
Judge Gerrit Muller sentenced Hlako, Marcus Makgatho and Mabirimisa to 22 years’ imprisonment for murder, seven years for kidnapping and four years for defeating the ends of justice. The female accomplice was sentenced to seven years direct imprisonment for kidnapping.
The National Prosecuting Authority said Ronny Makgatho was killed in Seshego by Hlako and Amanda Makgatho with their co-accused Mabirimisa, after being abducted in Soshanguve.
Hlako had transport, farming and sale of liquor businesses. Marcus Makgatho was in hospitality.
Ronny Makgatho was Amanda and Marcus’s cousin.
During the trial, the court heard that the first state witness, who was testifying in return for indemnity from prosecution under section 204 of the Criminal Procedure Act, had reported the crime after 16 years.
“He testified that he worked for businessman Hlako since 2001 and that all that he was directed to do [participating in the ritual murder] formed part and parcel of his duties. This was put to him to establish why he never reported this matter to the police. He testified that the reason is that his employer Hlako is connected to the SAPS in Seshego, and he was scared that what happened to the deceased could happen to him, an assertion that was never challenged by Hlako,” said NPA spokesperson Mashudu Malabi Dzhangi.
The witness said when he approached the police to report the offence, his fear was confirmed as he was detained, she said. No charges were subsequently levelled against him and he was released. He felt he could not make further attempts to report his boss as he feared the police.
“He was adamant that he was part of the team, and he did it under the instructions of his boss Hlako. He decided later to tell the truth because he suffered from nightmares and would also hear voices.”
Malabi Dzhangi said a second witness also worked for Hlako.
“Both witnesses testified that on the day of the incident, they were with Hlako, Marcus, Mabirimisa and an unknown lady. Knives were brought into the shack, and Hlako was giving instructions.”
One of the group was instructed to write Ronny’s name in a notebook before they killed him in a shack at Hlako’s homestead.
“The body of the deceased was dismembered, packed and taken to various businesses to promote the prosperity of the business,” she said.
In aggravation of sentence, advocate Kobus Jacobs said the actions of the accused affected the lives of the deceased’s family, relatives, and friends.
The NPA has welcomed the sentence which director of public prosecutions advocate Ivy Thenga said would send a strong message to ritual murderers that the justice system will not tolerate any form of violence against humankind.
The court ordered that the sentences run concurrently with the sentence of murder.
Nzhelele is located in the region of Limpopo, one of 9 primary administrative regions in South Africa. Reportedly, ritualistic murders – in Southern Africa called muti murders -occur frequently in the Limpopo region although presumably not all murders are reported or discovered. Also see my May 28, 2021 posting entitled South Africa: ‘Enough with muti killings’.
Kidnappings and theft rife in Nzhelele Valley, Limpopo. Screenshot. To watch the video click here
Recently, the mutilated body of an 11-year-old girl, Pfunzo Makuya, was found floating in a local dam nearly a week after she had gone missing from Phadzima Dzumbathoho. Earlier this year there was a public outcry after the disappearance of several children and the discovery of three bodies floating in the water since the beginning of this year. One well-known case concerned the disappearance of a 10-year-old girl, Fiona Matodzi, in the Vhembe area, in August. She was never found and her family fears a muti killing.
The police has started an investigation and asked the general public to cooperate and provide all information which could lead to the culprits. (webmaster FVDK)
A ritual killer on the loose?
The mutilated body of Pfunzo Makuya (11) was found floating in a local dam nearly a week after she had gone missing from Phadzima Dzumbathoho. Photo supplied.
Published: November 18, 2022 By: Elmon Tshikhudo – Zoutnet, South Africa
Could vicious ritual killers be stalking innocent people in villages around the Nzhelele region? This has become the most asked question in that area lately, especially following the disappearance and subsequent discovery of the mutilated body of an 11-year-old girl that was found floating in a local dam.
The girl, Pfunzo Makuya of Phadzima Dzumbathoho, was last seen on Wednesday afternoon, 9 November, between 16:00 and 17:00, after her mother sent her to the local shoemaker. According to a reliable source who spoke to this newspaper, the girl never reached the shoemaker, who runs his business not far from her home.
On Monday, 14 November, nearly a week after the girl had gone missing, local fishermen who were out fishing found her body floating in the dam. One of her hands had been cut off and in places, pieces of flesh had been carved from her body.
Naturally, this led the community to strong suspicions that she had been ritually murdered. Community leader Mr Richard Ramabulana said the disappearance of people who were later found dead had become a source of great concern in the area. “Since the beginning of the year we have had three cases and the worst part of it is that they were all later found floating in the water. As a community, we will work with the police to fast-track this investigation and our call to the residents is to give as much information to the police as possible,” he said.
The parents of the dead girl were still very traumatised and requested to be given space before making a statement.
Over recent months, many outcries have been made by communities over the disappearance of children in the Vhembe area. One of the most notable cases was that of the missing Fiona Matodzi. The 10-year-old girl was allegedly kidnapped on her way home from the local Dzindi Primary School. The incident happened at Itsani on 11 August this year, and no trace of her has been found since then.
Acting Vhembe police spokesperson Sergeant Vuledzani Dathi confirmed the recent incident and said a case of murder had been opened. He said the body would be subjected to an autopsy that would determine the cause of death. Those with information about the case should contact Detective Sergeant Ronald Kwinda at 071 677 1766 or call the Crime Stop number on 08600 10111.
Warning: the following article contains graphic details, the reader may find the article shocking.
The following article from Eric Naki, the Political Eitor of The Citizen, a South African online news magazine, contains several frank observations which are worth specifically mentioning here.
First, Naki, citing an expert on ritual murders, Dr Alunamutwe Rannditsheni, from Limpopo province, tells us that ritual murders are a worldwide phenomenon, occurring not only in Africa or Sub-Saharan Africa. I am very happy with this expert-observation even though it results in mixed feelings because of its sad contents. I have also mentioned it in my introduction to this website on ritual killing, witchcraft and superstition in African countries (‘Why publish this site‘).
Secondly, reportedly, kidnappings, human trafficking, and ritual murders, often referred to as ‘muti murders’, are well-known crimes in nearly all 16 member-states of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). This is shocking. The combined population living in the 16 SADC-countries totals about 300 million people.
Lastly, the well-informed author confirms the ghastly details of the way muti murders are committed. Organs or other body parts are extracted live from the poor and helpless victims, not seldom children. The reality is sometimes too hard to describe and too revolting to imagine.
Ritual murders, human trafficking, kidnappings, and associated fear and torture are a plague in many African countries and must stop immediately. To the governments which have a sacred obligation to protect their citizens I would say: ‘If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.’ (webmaster FVDK).
Muti murders: ‘Genitals only work if cut from live victims’
Published: May 20, 2021 By: The Citizen, South Africa – Eric Naki
Victims were lured with promises of jobs, but when they arrived at the destination, they would be abducted and taken away to have their body parts cut off.
An expert on ritual murders, Dr Alunamutwe Rannditsheni, from Limpopo, said ritual killings were a worldwide phenomenon and not only an African problem.
Almost all of the SADC countries experienced ritual killing-related kidnappings and human trafficking.
A 2008 investigation by the Human Rights League in Mozambique found such murders were rife in the country. It found people were trafficked between countries with the purpose to remove parts to be trafficked separately.
The league, which interviewed survivors, eye-witnesses, families of victims and civil society in Mozambique and South Africa, found body parts were forcibly removed from children and adults, causing death or severe disability.
“Throughout the report, informants share personal experiences, which confirm that body parts are taken across the border between South Africa and Mozambique.”
A custom’s official in Sofala province, Mozambique, said: “They say the treatments with genital organs only work if they are taken from a person alive.”
In some instances in Mozambique, victims were beheaded before the parts were removed.
“The murderer cut her throat like she was a goat. He cut her head just like that and removed her genital organs, leaving all the rest,” the report quoted a police officer at Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique as saying.
In another case, a female stall holder at Ressano Garcia on the border with South Africa was fingered for ritual murders.
“The police searched and found that she was carrying genital organs of adult men … I don’t know how many exactly, it was several. But they were from adult men, I saw them myself,” an officer said.
Cases of muti killings were also reported in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho, Malawi and Tanzania. People living with albinism were the main targets in Tanzania.
Community leader and businessman Phumudzo Mukhwati alleged the ritual murder gangs had spread to provinces such as KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, North West and Gauteng.
Victims were lured with promises of jobs, but when they arrived at the destination, they would be abducted and taken away to have their body parts cut off in Limpopo or a neighbouring country.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) comprises 16 Member States: Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The murder of Thabelo Mazolo in Zimbabwe inspired Bruce Ndlovu, the author of the article reproduced below, to dwell on the phenomenon of ritualistic murders, muti or muthi murders as they are called in Southern Africa. The staggering details of recent murder cases in Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe are shocking. The author is to be commended for his frankness to expose and discuss these heinous crimes which have no place in the 21st century.
Warning: the following article contains many graphic details as to how these murders are committed (webmaster FVDK).
Murder economy: The business, science behind ritual killings
Published: June 21, 2020 By: Nehanda Radio – Bruce Ndlovu
“You must cut yourself and spill your blood onto a mirror,” the message to Tawana Ngwenya reportedly read. “Gaze into the mirror and say out loud that you are selling your soul for riches. After that you must open the door for my boys to go out.”
The messages, from a South African sangoma, were allegedly part of a chain of instructions to Ngwenya, messages that allegedly led him to take the life of Tawana Mazolo at Matsheumhlophe, Bulawayo.
The messages were witchcraft delivered digitally, as the unknown sangoma, from his lair somewhere in one of South Africa’s nine provinces gave Ngwenya instructions on how to spill blood and in the aftermath, prepare for a life of riches.
The details of the alleged murder are gruesome. Half of Mazolo’s body, from the waist down, was missing while her breasts and palms were cut off. On the surface, the tragic killing of Mazolo already looks like a ritual murder. The grizzly details suggest that this indeed is the case.
After all, every once in a while, the pages of publications in Zimbabwe and neighbouring countries drip with the blood of innocents murdered at the altar of self-enrichment.
There was the case of Edmore Rundogo, whose dismembered remains were found in Maun, about 500km from Botswana’s second city of Francistown.
Rundogo had left his home in Lobengula West (Bulawayo) in search of a better life in Botswana. Instead of the proverbial greener pastures on the other side of the Plumtree border, he had found machete-wielding men who savagely murdered him, ripping his heart out.
The five killers also cut off his hands, feet, privates and took part of his brains. The killers, after being told by the traditional healer that had hired them that they had killed the wrong person, had then tried to burn his body.
South of the Limpopo, there was the case of 10-year-old Masego Kgomo, a schoolgirl who was still alive when Brian Mangwale ripped out her womb.
During the course of his trial for murder, Mangwale would change his story three times, a fact that the courts took as evidence that he had no remorse for his actions. In one of the three accounts he claimed that he and a group of friends had taken the young girl to a traditional healer in Soshanguve, who gave them a concoction to drink before he dragged the crying Masego into a room.
The girl was still crying when the traditional healer returned with her 10 minutes later and started sprinkling something on her body.
Mangwale claimed the medicine man had then returned with a knife and a clay pot and ordered Masego to lie down on a bed.
When she refused, she was forcibly held down while the traditional healer stabbed her in the stomach, put his hand inside her body and removed something that looked like a ball, which he put into the clay pot. He also removed her left breast.
Mangwale told the magistrate he heard the others had wrapped the child’s body in plastic and drank muthi before dumping her body in the veld on the instructions of the traditional healer.
While his testimony kept changing, the courts were convinced that Kgomo had died after meeting the nasty end of Mangwale’s knife. A life in prison sentence was handed to the killer.
Body parts are big business in Africa, but particularly in South Africa where trade in human body parts is lucrative. In the race to get rich in places like the City of Gold, Johannesburg, some believe that the key to getting their hand on all that glitters is taking a shortcut.
Many Zimbabweans, like Mazolo, can trace their gruesome ritual death to powerful sangomas south of the Limpopo. While Ngwenya was the one allegedly wielding the instrument of death when Mazolo took her last painful breath, this is not always the case.
Middle men, like in the case of Mangwale, are usually the ones that handle the dirty work. According to South African scholar Louise Vincent, certain gangs specialise in killing people for the harvesting of body parts only.
“It is believed that certain murder gangs specialise in muthi killings. Unlike human sacrifice where death is the express purpose of the act, in muthi-related killings, death is an anticipated and accepted by-product of the garnering of human organs but it is not the main aim.
Indeed, it is often preferred that the victim remain alive during the process. When body parts, including internal organs, are removed while the victim is still alive it is believed that the power of the resultant medicine will be greatly enhanced. Depending on the wants of potential customers, the instructions that the sangomas give specifics.
“Sangomas seldom do the killing themselves. The order will include not only specifications as to which particular body part or parts are required — testicles for virility purposes, fat from the breasts or abdomen for luck, tongues to smooth the path to a lover’s heart — but the very specific manner in which they are to be collected.
“The use of human body parts for medicinal purposes is based in the belief that it is possible to appropriate the life force of one person through its literal consumption by another. For this reason, a victim is often carefully chosen — not just any person’s penis as a cure for male infertility, for instance, but that of a man with several healthy children.”
Those who grew up in Zimbabwe urban areas will recall how the shadow of ritual murder has never been far off the horizon. Some, no doubt, know of the stories of businessmen who are said to have suddenly turned rich after they lost a spouse or a child. That child, or any other loved one, is assumed to be the blood sacrifice that was necessary for their businesses to turn a sudden corner.
Such perceptions of course, may be nothing but jealous rumour, but they are not helped by actual cases like that of Robert Tazvireva, a bottle store and general dealership owner in Magunje who allegedly instructed Samuel Mushonga in 2017 to murder his own sister so he could enhance his business.
After Mushonga had allegedly fatally stabbed his sister and hacked off her head, he delivered it to Tazvireva who told him to hide it in a nearby bush. Such instances, have helped convince many that businesspeople profit from the spilling of blood.
“‘If the business is not doing well, get a boy or a girl’s head — someone who has a future — and your business will have a future too,” said Dr Gordon Chavunduka time president of the Zimbabwean Traditional Healers Association, once said.
Those who grew up in Bulawayo in the late 90s will remember the myth of men who reportedly drove around the city with a blood sucking frog, looking for unsuspecting victims to profit from.
While such urban legends have never been confirmed, they are an entertaining reminder that people live on the constant lookout for people trying to profit off their ritual sacrifice.
“I recall vividly growing up in one township in Zimbabwe. This was just when public transport in the form of the Toyota Hiace taxi had just been introduced in the country,” says Fanuel Hadzidzi of Gender Links.
“At that tender age, we were scared to death by the stories doing the rounds in the township of the disappearance of children. We were told how kids were being lured by strangers who promised them some sweets.
“The next thing, their bodies would be found in the bushes with some body parts missing. Rumours were that businesspeople were taking the children’s heads for instance to Durban in South Africa and were trading them off for the taxis. Weren’t we all scared!”
With claims of human body parts sold by vendors on the streets of South Africa and other countries, it may be a long time before ritual killings lose their lustre to those trying to make a quick dollar.
More details emerge with respect to the lifeless body of Tiyiselani Rikhotso, found at the Klein Letaba dam near Giyani, Limpopo, South Africa. The region is known for its ritual murders, as reported multiple times on this site. The local population calls the ritualistic murders muti (muthi) murders (webmaster FVDK).
Murdered Giyani girl (11) found in dam had missing body parts, family say
Tiyiselani Rikhotso when she was younger. The 11-year-old was killed and her body found in a dam near Giyani.
Published: March 20, 2020 By: Sowetan Live – Peter Ramothwala
The family of an 11-year-old girl whose dismembered body was found in a dam suspects she was murdered for ritual purposes.
Tiyiselani Rikhotso from Ndengeza village, about 40km west of Giyani in Limpopo, was reported missing on Sunday and her body was found on Tuesday in the Klein Letaba Dam.
Her discovery was preceded by a protest by the community, who went on a rampage, blockading roads.
Tiyiselani’s grandmother Christina Rikhotso, 59, said she suspected Tiyiselani was hacked with a panga as she had several open and deep wounds on her body.
“I saw those wounds on her body and they were very scary. Her right leg was chopped and still missing as we speak.
“I think she was killed elsewhere and thrown into the dam.
“If her murder is not for muthi, what will one do with a child’s leg?”
Rikhotso said Tiyiselani was found in the dam after some children tipped off community members that they saw her in the company of an unknown man.
“On our way to the dam, we found her doek and we became convinced she was thrown in there,” she said.
The grandmother said she was in church when Tiyiselani went missing on Sunday.
“I left her with her other siblings at home in the morning. Later in the day, I received a call that Tiyiselani was missing. I quickly called a few neighbours and we combed the local bushes and could not find her.
“In the afternoon, I went to the police to report a missing person. I even told them that we suspect her body was in the dam and they told me they would wait for a search and rescue team and sniffer dogs.”
Police spokesperson Brig Motlafela Mojapelo said a manhunt for the killer(s) had been launched.
“The discovery was made by community members who then called the police.
“On arrival at the scene, the police retrieved the body and discovered that some of her body parts were missing,” Mojapelo said.
Mojapelo said the motive for the murder was unknown at this stage but said that murder for body parts could not be ruled out.
Tiyiselani’s father Thulani Rikhotso said he was shocked and in disbelief about his daughter’s murder.
“I arrived on Wednesday from Gauteng to see for myself. My brother, I’m heartbroken. I want police to find her killers soon,” he said.
MEC for social development Nkakareng Rakgoale has also reacted with shock to the incident.
“Incidents such as this one are again putting in the spotlight the general safety of our children in communities.
“I cannot begin to imagine how a person can decide to take away an innocent soul just like that.
“We are once again appealing to parents and communities to always keep a close eye on children who are in their vicinity,” Rakgoale said.
Missing Giyani girl’s body found dismembered in Limpopo dam
Published: March 20, 2020 By: News 24 (South Africa) – Canny Maphanga
Tiyiselani Nokuthula Rikhotso. (Supplied, SAPS)
The body of Tiyiselani Nokuthula Rikhotso, a 11-year-old missing Giyani girl, was found dismembered and dumped in the local Klein Letaba Dam on Tuesday.
Rikhotso was reported missing on Monday.
“The discovery was made by community members, who called the police. On arrival at the scene, the police retrieved the body and discovered that some of her body parts were missing,” said Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo in a statement on Tuesday.
The provincial commissioner of Limpopo, Lieutenant General Nneke Ledwaba, strongly condemned the brutal killing of an innocent child and instructed the police to hunt down the killers.
The police have subsequently launched a manhunt.
Authorities are calling on anyone with information to come forward.
The fear is warranted, but we have to be careful and we should not rush to conclusions without firm evidence or an official announcement. However, the immediate reaction of a ritualistic act is telling and significant (webmaster FVDK).
Missing Giyani girl found dismembered and thrown in Klein Letaba dam
An 11-year-old child, reported missing on Monday, was found dismembered on Tuesday. Her body was thrown into the Klein Letaba dam. Image: 123RF/Paul Fleet
Published: March 18, 2020 By: TimesLive – South Africa
An 11-year-old girl, who was reported missing in Dengeza, outside Giyani, on Monday, was found murdered and dismembered on Tuesday, said Limpopo police.
Brig Motlafela Mojapelo said the child was found dumped at the Klein Letaba dam.
“The discovery was made by community members, who called the police. The police retrieved the body and discovered that some of her body parts were missing,” said Mojapelo.
“The motive for this murder is unknown, but ritual murder cannot be ruled out,” he added.
Provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Nneke Ledwaba condemned the brutal killing of the child and called on police to hunt down her killers.
‘Ritual murder cannot be ruled out’ after body of missing girl (11) found in Limpopo dam
Her dismembered body was found in the local Klein Letaba Dam
Published: March 18, 2020 By: Review (online) – South Africa
Tiyiselani Nokuthula Rikhotso was reported missing on Monday, 16 March. Photo: SAPS
LIMPOPO – The body of 11-year-old Tiyiselani Nokuthula Rikhotso, who was reported missing on Monday, 16 March has been found. Rikhotso, from Dengeza (A) outside Giyani, was last seen when she left home on Sunday, 15 March.
The police commenced with a search operation after Rikhotso was reported missing, but without success. Her dismembered body was found in the local Klein Letaba Dam on Tuesday, 17 March and the police in Giyani have launched a manhunt for the killer (s) as a result.
Klein Letaba Dam. Photo: SAPS Limpopo
Residents from the local community made the discovery and called the police who retrieved the body from the dam and found some of her body parts were missing. According to Police Spokesperson, Brig Motlafela Mojapelo, the motive for the killing is unknown but ritual murder cannot be ruled out.
The brutal killing of Rikhotso has been strongly condemned by the Provincial Police Commissioner, Lt Gen Nneke Ledwaba who also instructed the police to hunt down the people responsible for her death.
The police appeal to anyone with information that can lead to the arrest of the suspect(s) to contact Col Chris Mabasa at 082 469 0739, their nearest police station or the Crime Stop number at 086 001 0111
Mourners at a funeral of a 69-year-old man in Blinkwater village outside Giyani in Limpopo went on a rampage on Sunday when they discovered that his private parts were missing.
James Makhubele was reportedly believed to have died in a hit-and-run on August 3, but family members now believe he was the victim of a ritual killing and that his body was thrown on to the road to create the appearance that he had been hit by a car.
At the funeral, family members inspected Makhubele‘s remains and reportedly discovered that body parts were missing.
This sparked a vigilante attack during which mourners burnt down three houses, one belonging to a man whom they believe to be the suspect and those of two of his employees.
According to Sowetan, police spokesperson Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe said a second post-mortem would be conducted.
However, a policeman at the local police station reportedly told the newspaper that the first post-mortem did not find that any body parts had been removed.
Incidents of mob justice continue to flare up throughout the country.
Last week, that two men estimated to be around 30 years old were murdered by groups of people in separate vigilante attacks in the Eastern Cape.
In July, in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria, for stoning a murder suspect to death.
In the same week, two women were in the Ha-Mashau village in Limpopo. They were suspected of murdering a 12-year-old boy. Two suspects, aged 16 and 17, have been arrested.
The lifeless body of a 14-year-old boy was discovered at the back of the cemetery at Majozi village last Thursday morning. It is alleged that the body has a gorged skull and was missing its private parts. It is suspected that the deceased is another victim of ritual murder.
The enraged community of Masia allegedly set a suspect’s hut on fire on Sunday night. However, the man and his family managed to slip away by jumping over the fence at the backside of his main house.
The boy’s body was first discovered in the early hours of the morning by a group of women who were walking down the mountain from fetching wood. It was later revealed that the boy came from a neighbouring village, Masia.
The body was later identified as Nkhumeleni Mukhadi by his father, Mr Frank Mukhadi.
A suspicious finger pointed at a man for whom the boy used to perform odd jobs, after some community members said that he was seen walking out of a church crusade service with him on Wednesday evening (17 April).
Mukhadi is a heartbroken man, following the discovery of his son’s body. He believes that a bicycle was used to lure his son to the Phadinwe mountain, where he was then killed for muti. “There were fresh prints of a bicycle, which led us to the spot where Nkhume was killed,” he said. “We saw blood soaked into the ground.”
Nkhumeleni was a Grade 4 pupil at Vhangani Primary School. Mr Bernard Bopape, a teacher, said that the school was unable to accept that the young boy is no more. “We need answers to his death. We need to know who killed him and the motive behind the killing.”
Bopape said the pupils could hardly focus on their school work since everyone in the village was speaking about the pupil whose private parts had been cut off.
Cllr Sarah Makhuvha of Ward 7 maintains that she had received a sketchy report about the boy’s death from the ward committee and the deceased’s family. “There are community members who are maintaining that the man whose house was burnt had fetched Nkhumeleni from an evening church service and the boy never returned,” Makhuvha said. “To lose a child under such horrific circumstances is really painful.”
Makhuvha, the school and affected community members continue to hold meetings at the deceased’s house, as a way of trying to comfort the family of the deceased.
The police’s provincial spokesperson, Brig Hangwani Mulaudzi, said the police had opened a case of murder. “No arrests have been made thus far, but our investigations are ongoing,” said Mulaudzi. “We are also waiting for the doctors to perform a post-mortem.”
Mulaudzi added that the police had opened an arson case after a house of a man was set alight.
Chief Vho-Thanyani Masia called for calm in the village and requested the community members who might have information regarding the boy’s killing to supply it to the police.
When Limpopo Mirror visited the village on Monday evening, there was a large number of community members scattered about the suspect’s yard with the intention of setting the remaining rooms alight. The Vuwani police kept an eye on the situation from a short distance.
The article presented below does not represent a firm case of a ritual killing – or muti murder, as these crimes are called in southern Africa – but illustrates the daily fear of residents of countries in the region and the reaction of the population when suspecting another case of muti murder in their neighborhood. Mob justice means that the rule of law is absent. Governments must protect its citizens and punish perpetrators of heinous crimes like muti murders. People have a right to live without fear. For his reason, the article has been included here (webmaster FVDK).
One of the three houses which were torched by residents on the witchhunt for suspects following the suspicious death of a local. Image: ANTONIO MUCHAVE
Published: August 14, 2019 By: Peter Ramothwala
The death of a man has sparked a vigilante attack after his family members found he had body parts missing.
James Makhubele, 69, from Blinkwater village outside Giyani in Limpopo, was meant to be laid to rest on Sunday, but his family were shocked to discover his private parts were missing during a body viewing.
Makhubele was believed to have died in an apparent hit and run. But his family claimed he was killed and his body thrown on to the road to look like he was hit by a car.
Enraged community members, who were at the funeral, torched three houses belonging to three people they suspected of killing him and cutting the deceased’s body parts.
According to relatives, Makhubele’s body had deep cuts on the thighs and had his penis cut off.
Police spokesperson Col Moatshe Ngoepe said investigations have been broadened and a second postmortem would be conducted.Ngoepe confirmed the family had registered a complaint, regarding missing body parts of the deceased.
Makhubele’s niece Sophie Maluleke, 42, said her uncle was last seen at family gathering on August 3 when he retired for the night.
“When we got home we found that he wasn’t there. While we were still worried about where he could have went, somebody came to inform us that my uncle was hit by a car and he is dead,” Maluleke said.”We found him dripping blood from his pants, but his trousers were still intact.
Sophie Maluleke ,43, R, and Tsakane Baloyi. PHOTO: ANTONIO MUCHAVE/SOWETAN
“We didn’t check what caused the bleeding because we immediately called the police to the scene,” she said.
The family could not see Makhubele’s body for a week at the government mortuary in Elim because of a service delivery protest.
She said on Sunday during the funeral, rumour swirled that her uncle may have been a victim of ritual killings.
“Two men from the community volunteered to inspect the entire body during the funeral proceeding and found his private parts missing.”The deceased’s brother Rexon said they immediately called off the funeral and called the police to do further investigation.
“We were shocked. What they did to my brother is inhumane and I want whoever did this to pay.”We had already spent R20,000 for funeral costs. We had no choice, but to allow the mourners to feast,” he said.
Published: August 14, 2019 By: Staff Reported (News 24)
Mourners at a funeral of a 69-year-old man in Blinkwater village outside Giyani in Limpopo went on a rampage on Sunday when they discovered that his private parts were missing, Sowetan reported.
James Makhubele was reportedly believed to have died in a hit-and-run on August 3, but family members now believe he was the victim of a ritual killing and that his body was thrown on to the road to create the appearance that he had been hit by a car.
At the funeral, family members inspected Makhubele’s remains and reportedly discovered that body parts were missing.
This sparked a vigilante attack during which mourners burnt down three houses, one belonging to a man whom they believe to be the suspect and those of two of his employees.
According to Sowetan, police spokesperson Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe said a second post-mortem would be conducted.
However, a policeman at the local police station reportedly told the newspaper that the first post-mortem did not find that any body parts had been removed.
Incidents of mob justice continue to flare up throughout the country.
Last week, News24 reported that two men estimated to be around 30 years old were murdered by groups of people in separate vigilante attacks in the Eastern Cape.
In July, 14 people were arrested in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria, for stoning a murder suspect to death.
In the same week, two women were stripped naked and set alight in the Ha-Mashau village in Limpopo. They were suspected of murdering a 12-year-old boy. Two suspects, aged 16 and 17, have been arrested.
‘Muti murders’ are typical for Southern Africa. ‘Muti’ is the Zulu word for ‘medicine’. These crimes are ritualistic murders. The murderers and the person(s) who requested the body parts thus obtained should be brought to justice. For how long people in southern African countries have been living in fear for these ‘muti murders’? It is estimated that the number of muti murders range from one per month to one per day in South Africa alone.
A few days ago, a case of a (suspected) ‘muti murder’ was reported in the city of Polokwane, also known by its former name Pietersburg, the capital of the Limpopo Province of South Africa. Ordinary crimes may be disguised as a ‘muti murder’ in order to mislead the police, but isn’t it already quite revealing that as soon as a mutilated body is found, one thinks of a ‘muti murder’? (webmaster FVDK)
Mutilated body found on the Onverwacht Road, outside Polokwane
Published: May 29, 2018
POLOKWANE – Police have launched a manhunt for unknown suspect(s) following the discovery of a mutilated body on Monday afternoon, 28 May.
According to police spokesperson, Lt Col Moatshe Ngoepe, police received a tip off from the community about a body that was dumped in the bushes near the Onverwaght road, a few kilometres outside Polokwane.
“Upon their arrival, the mutilated body of a man in his forties was found with some body parts missing. The motive for this killing is still unknown at this stage but ritual murder cannot be ruled out,” he said.
Anyone with information which can assist the police in arresting the suspect(s) involved in the murder and who can assist in the identification of the deceased, are to contact Captain Richard Boshomane at 079 894 5501; the crime stop number 0860010111; the crime line sms 32211 or the nearest police station.
