Hundreds of angry traditional healers under the banner of Vhembe Traditional Health Practitioners (VTHP) marched to the Mutale Magistrate’s Court on Monday, to hand a memorandum to the Control Prosecutor, to oppose a special bail application of a traditional healer, Balanganani Munyai (84) charged with the alleged ritual murder of a 40-year-old man at Mafukani in November last year. Balanganani is a co-suspect with other traditional healers, Shumani Dzebu, Mukondeleli Phosha and Tshimomo Munyai.

The angry traditional healers were later joined by concerned members of the community who also danced and sang in support of the opposition of the bail application.

The memorandum appealed to the Department of Justice never to grant bail to the four traditional healers who are presently in custody. The VTHP also distanced itself from the deeds of the arrested traditional healers.

The President of VTHP, Dr Mmbulaheni Neluvhola, said all the traditional healers who kill people for muti purposes deserve to rot in jail.

“We strongly oppose the bail applications for traditional healers who use body parts to cure people,” he said. “It is against our code of practice and we condemn any use of body parts for curing people.”

Neluvhola continued by saying that people like the suspects are not really traditional healers, but people who only want to discredit the traditional healer profession. “We will never rest until all of them are brought before the court and they face their awful deeds,” he said. “They do not deserve to be within the community because what they do is inhuman and unacceptable. The traditional Healer’s Act no 125 of 1985 does not allow traditional healers to commit ritual murder…”

Neluvhola further requested community members to bring evidence to the police so that all the traditional healers who practice ritual murders could be brought to book.

The VTHP gave the state 14 days to respond to their memorandum, failure of which will be followed by more mass action. The memorandum was accepted by Mutale Magistrates’ Court’s Control Prosecutor, Ratshilumela Tshikosi, who promised to hand it over to the relevant authorities for attention.

* In another turn of events, approximately 600 villagers from Mutale marched to the same magistrate’s court on Thursday last week to register their anger about the high rate of ritual murders in the area. They also brought a list of 15 alleged ritual murder cases which they want the Thohoyandou Serious Investigating Unit to review and to arrest the perpetrators. According to the memorandum, the 15 people who were allegedly killed for muti in the Thengwe area in the past years were Mbulaheni Bele, Nyambeni Nageli, Mukosi Muthude, Phanuel Makhado, Edward Rambofheni, Thidziambi Masevhe, Adziambei Mudzielwana, Masotsha Ndou, Phillipp Sigodi, Maria Maluta, four children from Mafukani and a resident of Thengwe, only known as Nyamuneiwa.