In one of the 49 unresolved alleged muti killings in the Vhembe District of the Limpopo Province, Ms Phophi Munyai (72) was finally buried on Sunday, after her body lay in the mortuary for a month.

The funeral was delayed because villagers rejected the first autopsy conducted by the state pathologist in Polokwane last month, who indicated that the old lady had died of burns. They believe the autopsy was tampered with. They alleged that it took less than ten minutes to complete the autopsy and family members were denied entry into the autopsy room. A full report on the second post-mortem conducted on Thursday last week by a private pathologist in Pretoria will be available after three weeks.

The private pathologist also indicated that no initial post-mortem had been conducted on the body of the deceased. Eight villages in the Dzimauli area contributed R10 per household to cover the cost of the second post-mortem.

Ms Munyai was found murdered at Tshibvumo Village on 25 March. Her burnt body was discovered in a small room. Villagers are convinced that she was a victim of ritual murder as both her left hand and leg were missing. Much to the surprise of the villagers, the room in which the deceased was discovered was not burnt, but only her body had caught fire. Some villagers said they saw the deceased drinking traditional beer with a local lady the night before she died. Police registered a case of murder and a suspect, aged between 25 and 40, was arrested.

At an emotional funeral of the deceased, held at Tshapasha village, outside Thohoyandou, on Sunday, Charity Mbedzi, the spokesperson for the Department of Safety, Security and Liason in Limpopo, officially announced that the report about the 49 unresolved muti killings in Vhembe has been forwarded to the national Minister, Charles Nqakula, who would deploy a task team to the area very soon. He continued: “We urge villagers to work hand in hand with the task team as it visits their villages soon. Give them information so that they may be able to complete their job with ease. If you don’t speak out, it means that you are co-operating with the ritual murderers. As a department, we are doing a lot to win this war against ritual killings. I personally saw the body of the deceased at the mortuary and it was a shock to me as I have never come across such cruelty in my life. However, we are grieving with the family in their time of need because we know their family member has died a painful death.”

Family representative, Nndanduleni Nyelisani said although they are battling to come to terms with Ms Munyai’s death, they are thrilled by the support from the community since the tragedy happened. “We will fight until to the bitter end because we know that Phophi was murdered for muti purposes. We will embark on a peaceful war until all the murderers of Phophi are arrested. They belong in prison because they are cruel and have no respect for human life. We thank community members because they made us strong when we were powerless. We know that justice will prevail as Phophi’s blood is screaming towards her killers.”

Dean Alunamutwe Rannditsheni of the South African Council of Churches lashed out at the police and the state pathologist who conducted the first autopsy. “The police are not doing enough to resolve these ritual murders in our area. They are given hard evidence but the suspect is never arrested. Why did they invite the family for a post-mortem when they knew that nothing was done at all? The fact that family members were denied access into the autopsy room clearly indicates that there is foul play on the side of the police and the state pathologist. These are the people who are pocketing big cheques from the government coffers without executing their duties in a proper way. As clergymen, we will never keep quiet when people are dying like flies on a daily basis.”

Anger, frustration and grieving tears were the order of the day as Dean Alunamutwe Rannditsheni conducted a sermon while Phophi’s coffin was lowered into her final resting place.