The crime prevention rally at Makonde, where the MEC for Safety, Security and Liaison, Machwene Semenya, was the guest of honour, nearly turned into a circus when one of the guest speakers, Mr James Delekisa, the Provincial Organising Secretary of Sanco, refused to deliver an important address, because he claimed there were plans to discredit him by the organisers of the function.

Headman Ravhura of Makonde Village also did not attend the function, because there were allegations that he would not be given time to address the masses.

Delekisa fumed: “We were together in the whole planning of the function, but I was embarrassed when the programme director gave me only two minutes to represent Sanco in the province. There were clearly political agendas that even the blind can see. All other speakers were given enough time and I thought it would be better to descend the stage than bow to their demand of oppression. The MEC was there to listen to the people and how can I tell her about the 105 ritual murder cases I have researched, in two minutes? I had collected strong evidence throughout the whole province to present at the gathering and I also had a long list of suspects. Some of them were present at the function, but I was never given a chance to speak out. I had to report about the number of cases reported, measures that the communities are taking to fight ritual murder and to encourage people to break the silence about ritual murder. I was the first person to blow the whistle against ritual murder in Limpopo and people were there to listen to my presentation.”

Delekisa said he was not given a chance because the organisers knew he would spill the beans about senior government officials, police officers, businesspeople and clergymen who are involved in ritual murder. “They will never shut my mouth, because I know I will one day get a chance to speak to my people. You can’t keep the truth down because the moment it erupts, you will not have any measures to stop its eruption.”

Fulufhelo Nedzingahe of the Ravhura Royal Council ascended the stage and said: “Denying Mr Delekisa a chance to speak is like denying all the people of Limpopo to speak in one voice. I would also like to inform everyone that Headman Ravhura is not here with us because we received information that he would not be given time to speak to you. It is very painful to be denied time to tell the government about our problems while our relatives are being ritually murdered on a daily basis. This function did not serve its purpose because people were not allowed to speak.”

The spokesperson for the Limpopo Department of Safety, Security and Liaison, Tendani Tshidavhu, said she would comment after consulting the relevant stakeholders.