The MEC for Safety, Security, Liaison and Transport, Ms Mapula Mokaba-Phukwana, said the public must help to expose  human-body-parts syndicates.

“There is a need to regulate traditional healing in order to curb the increasing number of bogus traditional healers who perpetuate incidents of ritual murder. There should be provision for anti-ritual murder education and awareness for the elderly and scholars,” she added.

She addressed more than 700 people, including traditional healers, traditional leaders, clerics and policemen, during a summit on ritual murders held at the Porche Villa Hotel near Thohoyandou on Friday.

The theme of the summit was: We people of Vhembe are all victims: together we will eradicate ritual murder in Vhembe District.

She applauded the good work done by the police task team, who swiftly apprehended a suspect in the investigation of the recent Univen murders and said it was another way of winning the war against crime.

The executive mayor of the Vhembe district, Mr Tshitereke Matibe, urged communities to establish a good working relationship with the police to ensure that the perpetrators of ritual murders be arrested and given sentences that are equal to their evil deeds.

A traditional healer, Mr Matamba Mamuremi, warned traditional healers who commit ritual murders or send someone to commit a ritual murder to stop such practices or else they will be arrested, charged and removed from the list of the real traditional healers. “Ritual murder is a taboo and it can make our ancestors angry. Our good practices as real traditional healers are to help heal someone, using traditional herbs, not human body parts,” said Mamuremi.