Community members at Nthabalala went on the rampage two weeks ago, following the death of a victim of robbery and assault. They demanded that the suspect be re-arrested and residents blocked the road from Nthabalala to Vleifontein and from Nthabalala to Tshitale.

The suspect allegedly stabbed his victim and robbed him of cash and a cell phone. The incident happened on 3 October at Nthabalala when the man was on his way back home at around 20:30. After the attack, he was admitted to Elim hospital, but he died on 15 October.

According to the police spokesperson in the Tshitale area, Const Rudzani Lukhwa, the suspect allegedly robbed the deceased of his belongings before stabbing him. The deceased was identified as the 65-year-old Alpheus Mudzulafhi.

A suspect was later arrested and a 23-year-old man, Naphtal Thato Mainetje, appeared in the Tshitale Magistrate's Court on 5 October on charges of assault and robbery. The case was postponed to 28 October and bail was set at R1 000.

Once news of the death of the victim became known, community members seemed to become more upset with the apparent reluctance of the police to act against perpetrators. A community meeting was held on Saturday, 17 October, and the death of Mudzulafhi was discussed.

That following Monday, members of the community went to all the schools around the area attempting to force the pupils to go out and support them in their demand that the alleged murder suspect be rearrested. The shops in the area were closed for some time and the roads around Nthabalala to Vleifontein and Tshitale were blocked. Angry members of the community even uprooted trees and put them in the road.

The family spokesperson, Mashudu Mudzulafhi, was overwhelmed with grief. “I am saddened and I am in a state of shock. I do not have any idea as to what could have happened,” he said.

Mudzulafhi added that the family would love to see the law take its course. “We need answers because we do not know what had happened to him. We are not pointing fingers at anybody now, but we will wait for the law to take its course,” he added.

Thovhele Vho-Vhutshilo Nthabalala Ramabulana appealed to the community to refrain from taking the law into their own hands. He said the community should “help the police with information that can lead to the arrest and successful prosecution of the suspects who are responsible for this murder.” He appealed to the community to leave the school children alone to go to school.