Murder confession, but still no grave

For almost three years now, the Denga family of Tshitavha-Vhulaudzi has endured the pain of not knowing where their beloved grandfather, Mr Johannes Matodzi Denga (88), is. He went missing on 2 January 2013, after telling his relatives that he was going to collect his grant at Louis Trichardt.

He never came back. At first his family thought he might have gone to his relatives at Madombidzha, but their hopes were dashed when they could not trace him there. They searched everywhere, with no luck, but at the weekend their hopes of finding his remains were raised when a local man confessed to having witnessed his murder at a nearby mountain at Phadzima.

To verify his claim, the man also pointed out the grave where the old man was supposed to be buried. The allegations were reported to the local traditional leader, other structures in the village and the police, who unanimously agreed to exhume the body.

After the alleged pointing out of the grave on Sunday, the police and some members of the community guarded the area for the whole night, until the digging commenced the following morning. Different units of the police, emergency services and forensics braved the scorching summer heat for almost a whole day, with community members assisting the police in searching for the body.

Meanwhile, thousands of community members from all around the neighbouring villages came to the scene to witness the exhumation of the body. When it became evident that the area was full of big rocks, a front-end loader was roped in and it dug everywhere, without success. The community and the police, with the family members, went back home disappointed after a hard day’s search.

The missing man's grandchild, Joyce Mahandana-Mabetoe, said the family was elated when they heard of the confession. “We have endured a lot of pain as a family, to such an extent that two members of the family have passed on after suffering illnesses as a result of his disappearance."

His wife, Alosia Pontso Denga (78), passed away in February 2013 after complaining about the loss of her husband, and his daugher, Celestina Denga (45), died in May 2015 after complaining about her missing father for a long time.

"We have suffered and we felt that we would find closure in the matter even if it meant finding his bones. At least we would have had the chance to give him a decent funeral. Now that his grave has not been found, we will continue to hope that the truth will come out one day and we can find closure and move on with our lives,” she said.

The spokesperson for the Vhulaudzi Crisis Management, Mr Albert Mafhara, said there were as many as 10 unresolved murders and missing persons in the area. “After the confession, we have high hopes that some of the killings will be resolved and the perpetrators brought to book."

He express his disappoinment that nothing was found after the confession, "but this does not mean we are giving up our fight to get the truth and find killers of our people,” he said.

Siloam police spokesperson W/O Edzisani Tharaga said a man had confessed to having witnessed the secret burial of the old man. “The man, who is no longer a resident of the area, confessed and pointed out a spot in the bushes and we, together with other structures, decided to search for the body. We are also disappointed that no grave was found, but we are grateful for the support the community has given in trying to solve the mystery,” he said.

News - Date: 12 October 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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