The national police commissioner, Riah Phiyega, has established a special team of police detectives to investigate the alleged ritual murder case which led to riots around the Kutama area.

Phiyega made this announcement on Sunday during a meeting with Kutama residents at the Muduluni Community Hall. During the riots, schools in this area were closed.

Phiyega defended the police, saying their public order unit was one of the best on the continent. "It is just unfortunate that some officers acted against the law. I promise to turn things around at Tshilwavhusiku police station as they have turned the community into an enemy," said Phiyega.

"In connection with the death of a man whose body was found hanging from the roof of a defunct shop at Madodonga in December, the police detained nine suspects, who were later released due to a lack of evidence. The police should have explained to the community why the nine suspects were released," she said.

Phiyega said the provincial police commissioner, Fanie Masemola, should evaluate the efficiency of the provincial police, especially at Tshilwavhusiku. "I will reinstate all the cases that were dumped by the Tshilwavhusiku police. We are also going to have a multi-disciplinary task team composed of senior police officials, pastors, community leaders, traditional leaders, municipal officers, civic association leaders and businesspeople, to resolve all the issues causing unrest in the Kutama area. This structure will sit weekly and the community will receive all the information from their leaders," she said.

Ms Nditsheni Nemukondeni, the mother of 15-year-old Ndanganeni Nemukondeni, who was found dead in 2002 at Midoroni in Kutama area, said she wanted Phiyega to re-open her son's case, “which the Tshilwavhusiku police allegedly dumped many years ago”. She claims that her son was murdered. "When I asked the police how far the case was, they told me they didn't deal with cases that had only one witness. They then dumped the case," she alleges.