Another misfortune has befallen the Thinandavha family of Mulodi village, outside Thohoyandou. While they were still mourning the death of their family member Shonisani Thinandavha (38), who was ritually murdered two weeks ago, their porridge suddenly turned brown when they were preparing a meal on Sunday, just a day after the funeral.

Over and above that, the family discovered that there was water had been sprayed around their yard and sand particles mixed with an unknown substance had been sprayed at the gate.

A sample of the porridge was taken for forensic tests by the police and the family buried the remainder in the yard. On Mirror’s request, the family agreed to dig the porridge up, so that we could take pictures, although the porridge was contaminated with soil.

An eye witness to the colour-changing porridge, Maria Hamisi, said it was at about 17:00 when the mysterious porridge started changing colour. “We were sitting around the fireplace when Khetheni, a family member, was preparing the evening meal for the family. As usual, the water was boiling in the pot and we did not suspect anything. When she mixed the white maize meal with the boiling water, we realized that there was something wrong with the porridge.”

Maria said the contents in the pot suddenly changed to a brownish colour. “We called other family members and they were also surprised by what we were experiencing. We only hear or read about these things from others but we never thought it would happen to us. It came at a bad time while we are still mourning the death of our beloved family member. We believe there are evil people and forces behind all these things.”

She said the mysterious porridge was given to the family dogs and chicken, who did not consume it. “At times they eat the porridge when we give them some, but they just stared and smelt the evil porridge and went away.”

She added that the family used the same maize meal they have always used in the past. “The very same maize meal never changed colour when prepared in the past. We were surprised when the porridge turned brown on Sunday. We were a bit relived when we prepared porridge on Monday and it did not change. Since then, we haven’t yet experienced the same problem.”

Supt Ailwei Mushavhanamadi of the Vhembe police said the sample of the porridge has been taken for forensic tests and the results will be made public as soon as they are available.