Mavis Sadiki (52), has been doing all she could to find answers to questions about her brother's mysterious death. Perhaps she has gone too far, as rumours are rife that her bother's murderers are now looking for her blood.

Mavis' disabled brother, Mr Robert Munyai (55) of Tshamutilikwa outside Thohoyandou, was found dead in his shack in January. He lived a lonely life and in abject poverty, and he had allegedly been killed. His alleged killers have not been found.

Sadiki said that thepost-mortem conducted on her brother’s body in her presence showed that he did not have intestines. She has been given an assurance by the police that she would be given the official post-mortem results later, but she is still waiting.

The mysterious death of her brother, whom she believes had been ritually murdered, keeps on tormenting her. Her zeal to find out who the killers of her brother are, has earned her many enemies. As if that is not enough, the single mother is receiving threats that she is also to be ritually killed.

A community meeting was held at the weekend and the witness who relayed the message that she was to be ritually murdered testified in front of the gathering. "I am living in fear. These people are not satisfied that they killed my brother; they now want to finish me off. I am no longer safe, and I do not even know where to hide as they might get me anywhere,” she said.

Sadiki mentioned that her brother’s killers were still roaming the streets, and even though some people might have evidence, they are not being taken seriously. She said that she had paid for all services in the community, but her brother did not enjoy any of the government’s fruits of democracy.

“My brother lived in poverty till the end. Some received RDP houses while he lived in a shack for the most of his life. They killed him for muti, knowing that no one would stand up for him as we are a poor family. I will not rest until the muti killers are all behind bars. I am worried that even the police are not being helpful in this case,” she added.

According to her, the police have never informed the family of any progress about the case. “Now that the killers are after me, they want to silence me. I will not keep quiet, because I want his killers arrested and they must answer for their crimes”

About the latest threat, Sadiki said that she was at home on Saturday when a man came and told her that a plan was being hatched to kill her for muti and to silence her as she was being much too talkative. "The man was sobbing and when we tried to ask him questions, he could not answer as he was crying,” she said.

She added that she was worried that people who might have information about the case might just shut up for fear of victimization.

Thulamela DA councillor Humbulani Nengovhela, who has been following the case closely, said that he was very disturbed about the turn of events. “The dead man was one of our disabled people. We are greatly saddened that his case does not seem to be moving forward. We are now more worried because his sister is being threatened,” he said.

He said that the party would do everything in their power to see that the family received assistance and that there was progress in the case. “We will help the family in opening up a new case and see to it that they will be briefed about the progress of the old case. We will monitor this very closely,” he said.

Mr Jackson Rathari, the local civic leader, said that they had advised the family to go and open a case with the police.

The local traditional leader, Chief Lavhelesani Mphaphuli, said that he, upon learning about the developments, had advised the family to report the matter quickly to the police. “This is a big issue which is beyond our scope and competence. This will need the intervention of the police, and I am going to write them a letter of authority to advise them to report the matter to the police,” he said.