The brutal killing of women in the Vhembe region seems to be getting worse, with horrific killings escalating and leaving most of the affected families traumatised and with unanswered questions.

On Sunday morning, the Netshianani family of the Thembaluvhilo community in Nzhelele learnt with shock that their grandmother had been hacked to death at her home. Mrs Matodzi Elisa Netshianani (65), was allegedly killed on Saturday evening by an intruder. According to the police, it is suspected that the murderer had broken the window of the room where she used to sleep and hacked her to death with an unknown object.

Mrs Netshianani was staying with her uncle and she used to sleep in the main house, while the elder uncle sleeps in a room separated from the main house. Her children were not at home at the time of the incident. All her children work far from home and one of her sons stays at his place on the other side of the village. 

Her son, Mr Japhta Netshianani, said he was called by a neighbour to go to his mother's place. “When I went to into her bedroom, I found my mother lying in a pool of blood on her bed.” He added that the family is cooperating with the police and they are pleading with any member of the public who might have information regarding the incident to inform the police. “Our mother was brutally killed; for what, we still don't understand. We want to see the perpetrator behind bars. Justice shall prevail and we hope the police will find the culprit,” he said.

Japhta’s younger brother, Mr Joshua Netshianani, said they would like police to speed up their investigations. “We need to find out who has done this evil deed to our mother,” he said.

The Mphephu police have opened a murder case. W/O Lazaros Netshidzati said the police were accelerating their investigations. He appealed to anyone with information to call their nearest police station or Lt Col Mulaudzi on 082 565 7729.

Cllr Tshifhiwa Mamafha of Ward 35 in the Makhado Municipality sympathised with the family. “This is awful. We are shocked, especially when incidents like these are occurring during the period of 16 days of activism of no violence against women and children. This just raised the alarm for our safety in our communities,” he said.

Mrs Netshianani is survived by her six children and grandchildren. She will be buried at Tshituni cemetery on Saturday morning.