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Is the “ritual murder season” open again?

 

After the recent discovery of a body in the Maila area, residents of the area, who believe that the man was ritually murdered, went on the rampage. According to them, they also believe that the “ritual murder season” is open again.

The 53-year-old Mr Nndwamato David Mufamadi Mmbadulula was found dead in the street not far from his home. Residents barricaded the main road, apparently in an effort to convince the Makhado police to hunt for the suspect. Some community members claimed that a certain man had been responsible for the murder.

According to members of the community, it is the seventh similar incident at Maila since 2011. They added that people no longer felt safe in their own homes. "If you don’t see one of your children for two to three hours, you start to wonder whether the child is still alive or not," a resident said.

On Monday (8th), members of the community went to all the schools around the area to force pupils to go out and support them in their demand that the alleged ritual-murder suspects be arrested. The shops around were closed for some time and the roads around Vleifontein and Maila were blocked. Angry members of the community even broke down the resting place for passengers at a bus stop and put it on the road.

Residents were barricading the road and burning tyres during the night. During the day, the situation appeared calm, but during the night it was a disaster and a frustration to motorists who often use the road. The community felt that the police were reluctant to arrest possible suspects, whom they believe to be members of the community.

Thovhele Vho-Vhutsilo Nthabalala Ramabulana has appealed to the community to refrain from taking the law into their own hands. He said the community should “help the police with information that can lead to the arrest and successful prosecution of the suspects who are responsible for this murder.” He appealed to the community to leave the school children alone to go to school. He remarked that the road was for public use and the community should refrain from barricading it.

Local civic leader Maita Ramaite called for calm, but the members of the community said that they had had enough of individuals who terrorised the community and got away with such crimes.

There was virtually no schooling, and people could not go to work as roads were barricaded. Residents claim as many as seven people have either gone missing without a trace or have been ritually murdered. They allege the Makhado police are either not doing their work or working in cahoots with the alleged ritual murderers. This has led to cases being transferred from the station and now being investigated by a task team at cluster level.

Ms Lucy Magoro, widow of the deceased, agreed that they were not happy with the way in which the police were handling the case. She acknowledged that there were parts missing from the body*see below*. “The police are not willing to arrest the suspects. They are not acting against people we know are involved in the murder.” She added that they were still waiting for the police to supply them with the post mortem report. "We are greatly saddened by the incident. Besides the loss of a loved one, we still have many questions left unanswered."

Police spokesperson Lt Col Ngoatshe Ngoepe said that the police were still waiting for the post mortem report. "At this stage, we have no evidence linking anybody to the death of Mmbadulula. We are now appealing to members of the public to give us space to work on the case.” He also appealed to members of the community to supply information that can shed light on the incident. "We are patrolling the area and it remains to be seen if other properties were damaged during the night." He said they had opened an inquest docket in respect of the body found at Maila.

 

* Amendment: The article quotes the widow of the deceased, Ms Lucy Magoro, as saying that parts of the body were missing. This is incorrect and should state that Ms Magoro said that no parts of the body were missing.

We apologise for the error and the confusion that it may have caused.

News - Date: 19 August 2016

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Police cleared the road.

The deceased, Mr Nndwamato David Mufamadi Mmbadulula.

Angry members of the community even broke down the bus stop and put it in the road.

 

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Kaizer Nengovhela

Kaizer Nengovhela started writing stories for Limpopo Mirror in 2000. Prior to that he had a five year stint at Phala-Phala FM as sports presenter. In 2005 Kaizer received an award from the province's premier as Best Sports Presenter. The same year he was also nominated as Best Sports Reporter by the Makhado Municipality. Kaizer was awarded the Mathatha Tsedu award in 2014.

Email: [email protected]

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