The Premier of Limpopo Province, Mr Sello Moloto, said the government is seriously concerned about the escalating number of unresolved ritual murder cases in the Vhembe District. He said the government has sent an investigative task team to all affected areas in the province to investigate all unresolved ritual murder cases dating back from 1994.

He was speaking to community members during the provincial Freedom Day celebrations at Phalama village, outside Thohoyandou, on Thursday. There are 49 unresolved ritual murder cases in the Vhembe District of the Limpopo province.

Moloto said the government will speed up the process of resolving the ritual murder cases because there is an outcry of dissatisfaction from concerned community members. “There can be no freedom where ritual murderers continue to maim and kill innocent people without being arrested and brought to justice because safety and security are the cornerstones of peace and freedom. In this regard, we must indicate that the government is highly disturbed by ongoing reports of ritual murders in this part of the province. Ritual murderers are evil people who do not belong in our society. We must take this opportunity to announce that the government has sent an investigating task team to all affected areas in the province to investigate all unresolved ritual murder cases dating back from 1994. We would therefore expect all affected communities to help us in getting to the bottom of these crimes so that all ritual murderers are arrested and punished for their evil deeds…”

Moloto further said that evidence from different sources will be used to resolve the cases. “We have recommendations from the Ralushai and Seth Nthai Commissions which will help us in the investigations. These cases cannot be resolved by the government only. We need community members to be highly involved because their evidence will help us to apprehend the perpetrators…”

Moloto said South Africans had a lot to be proud of, and could face the future with greater confidence than most nations of the world. However, it was up to the people themselves to realise the dreams and hopes of both those who had died in combat, and others like Nelson Mandela, who had been jailed during the struggle for political freedom.

The Premier mentioned the names of several Limpopo-based freedom fighters, notably Flag Boshielo, Lawrence Phokanaka, Ike Maphotot and Chief Rasimphi Tshivhase, who had made great sacrifices during the liberation struggle.

"We are a free people in a free country, living in a system where human rights are protected by one of the most progressive constitutions in the world", he said. Moloto pointed out that the country's citizens were free to live where they liked, could criticise the state, and had the right to free association and to elect the government of their own choice. He reaffirmed the government's undertaking to use its power responsibly, in order to make a difference to the lives of the people, the economy and society in general.

More work would, however, have to be done to create the kind of society envisaged by those who met in Kliptown fifty years ago to adopt the Freedom Charter, the Premier warned.