Area in turmoil as Univen student is butchered

What was supposed to be a happy surprise for a family at Khwekhwe outside Thohoyandou turned tragic when a member of the family was brutally killed some metres away from his home.

Nyambeni Jeffrey Mulangaphuma (32) of Khwekhwe had bought a car in Pretoria and phoned the family to say he would be arriving late on Monday with a pleasant surprise. As promised, the education student at the University of Venda bought some beer at a local tavern early in the evening.

Information that this paper pieced together is that, after buying his beer, he set out for his home nearby. It is alleged that, on his way home, a girl in school uniform at the side of the road stopped him. He was then apparently surprised by an unknown number of assailants, who pulled him out of his car and took him to a nearby disused house, where he was mercilessly killed and taken back to his car and left in the passenger seat.

At the house, there was blood everywhere. Two pillow cases were left in the house where he was killed, while a third one full of blood was taken away by the police. According to the police, an attempt was also made to burn his car. He was robbed of all his belongings and stabbed all over the body.

News of the killing quickly spread in the village, and in no time angry community members went out hunting for identified suspects, who are believed to be part of a gang that is terrorising the community. The alleged suspects, who are believed to be young boys, were nowhere to be found. The community members then chose to vent their anger by burning homes. They set two on fire the same night and one on Tuesday morning at Tshidzete, a nearby village.

The angry residents barricaded the roads with big rocks, old car scraps, trees and bricks.

The girls believed to be working in cahoots with the suspects were also identified and dragged before the community, where they allegedly confessed and also told the angry residents the whereabouts of the suspects. The area has been tense since then, with the police having running battles with rampaging youths throughout the night. Tear gas and rubber bullets were fired and some youths were stoning the police.

The dead man was described by his family as a very humble think tank who would not even hurt a fly. "My cousin was a very intelligent person who was respected by the whole family. He worked for a local hotel, but resigned to further his studies at Univen. He went to Pretoria last week and he told us he would be surprising us on Monday. We were looking forward to seeing the surprise when we received the surprising and shocking news," said Ms Takalani Madima, the deceased's cousin.

Madima said they believed there was more to the killing than robbery. "Look, they forced him out of his car to a nearby house and cut his throat before taking his body back to his car, where it was left in the passenger seat.We are greatly saddened by this killing, and we just hope that the wheels of justice move fast and that the suspects are quickly brought to book," she said.

Police spokesperson W/O Solly Mukhola expressed shock about the killing. He said the situation was calm at the village but roads were still blockaded. "We have opened a case of arson in respect of a two-roomed house that was burnt by the protesters."

News - Date: 28 September 2015

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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