Case of the missing tongue

There was drama at Tshivhilidulu outside Siloam when the body that was to be buried was brought home minus its tongue. This was during the funeral of the late Zephaniah Sivhugwana (34) on Saturday.
Sivhugwana is the father of the slain children who were mercilessly killed three years ago by a convicted serial killer. He was injured during an accident in January in Gauteng. He had been hospitalized since the accident until his death last week.
The family had planned to give him a decent funeral. They sent for his body through a local undertaker, Rinavho Funeral Supplies and Tombstones, and everything was prepared to give him a dignified send-off.
When the body was brought home, family members were horrified to find that the body was without a tongue. Then all hell broke loose, with members of the family fainting after realizing that their loved one was to be buried without a tongue.
Everything came to a standstill, with mourners demanding that the undertaker bring back the tongue before they could bury the body. The undertaker could not explain the circumstances that had led to the disappearance of the tongue. This was an insult to the bereaved family, who vowed that the undertaker and her cars would not leave the yard intact if they did not bring back the tongue.
The police, who were called to diffuse the situation, could not do anything as the community said that they would rather all be arrested if the tongue was not brought back for burial.
Negotiations between the police, the family and community structures took place the whole day until consensus was reached that a post mortem would be done to determine if no other parts were missing and also to check for the tongue. Local pathologists took the body away and the undertaker, who had been held hostage in the bereaved mourners’ house for the whole day, had to be escorted under heavy police guard after police brought in more reinforcements.
The body was taken to the local hospital, where the post mortem was finally conducted. To their horror, the tongue was found in the deceased’s stomach and the undertaker was vindicated.
The body was finally laid to rest in the evening.
The deceased’s sister, Mushumo Sivhugwana, said no normal family would bury their loved one with body parts missing. “Were we supposed to bury him in halves? He died a terrible death and then his body is supposed to be buried in parts? We cannot afford this as a family and we were going to fight tooth and nail until we found the tongue,” she said.
She said the family was relieved that at long last he was buried with all his parts. “The whole incident traumatized us, but we are just happy that we managed to give him a decent funeral, even though it was late at night,” she said.
She said if the undertaker had done her job, there would have been no misunderstanding.
The local traditional leader, Vhamusanda Vho Mmbulaheni Netshivhiliduli, said he was just happy that the family and the community had controlled themselves and not taken the law into their own hands.
“We are just grateful for the presence of the police because when people are angry, anything is possible. We are equally grateful that the leadership of this village tried to keep the community calm, otherwise we would be talking of casualties and arrests,” he said.
This is not the first time that an emotional funeral was held by the family. In 2006, the family lost four members who were all brutally murdered by a convicted serial murderer, Mukosi Mulaudzi.
Ndivhuho Tshilimandila (19), Nnyadzeni Sivhugwana (14), Shumani Sivhugwana (10) and Lavhelesani Sivhugwana (7) were all mercilessly killed by Mulaudzi. Mulaudzi is currently serving 11 life sentences and 200 years after being found guilty in 2008.
During the funeral, many mourners collapsed, while even the mayor of Thulamela, Khosi Vho Thivhulawi Makumbane, could not hold back his tears.
Siloam police spokesperson Inspector Elijah Nefale said no case was opened. He said after hearing of the incident, police kept a heavy presence just to make sure everyone was safe.
He thanked all stakeholders for having been patient enough to wait for the official outcomes of the post mortem.

News - Date: 05 March 2010

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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