Several readers of our paper are using our internet pages to comment on the reports in our paper.

Our readers are welcome to react to the stories by logging onto our web page on the Internet. We will publish the comments of our readers in due course.

On May 4, we published the story, Why have you murdered our mother?, about yet another suspected ritual murder in our area. Several readers reacted to the report.

Mpete Benson stated that ritual murder is a serious matter in Venda and something has to be done by the political leaders, before we are all murdered for muti. We are almost famous for muti killings in the whole of South Africa. Wherever you go, the moment you divulge the information that you are Muvenda, people start to ask you questions about the practice. I remember in one similar case Premier Sello Moloto promised to do something, but it was not done. In another case, the suspect was released from custody on the basis of lack of evidence to link him to the muti murder. The victim´s son called to say he believed the man released was the murderer and he was never given a chance to explain why he thinks so. We don’t know what happened to another muti murder case where the victim escaped and he identified the suspects. Our justice system protects the bad, and the good suffers. Maybe we need to propose a review of our constitution and, consequently, our criminal laws. The Premier of Limpopo should know that the National Government has entrusted him with power to ensure that we live in a better SA where there is no fear of someone killing or intimidating you and he has to do everything in his power to ensure that this thing ends. Maybe we should ask the so called "traditional healers" because most of the time we find that they are linked in these cases. Convicted ritual murders should go to jail for the whole of their lives. Those who are working away from Venda do not even want to come home, as they don’t want to be victims of muti murders. Although some people may argue that this things happen in some other cultural groups, other than Venda, to us it’s worse. (Shortened).

Giga wrote that Maybe humans have turned into man-eating vultures. I guess everyone is on their own now, fighting for survival - "Kill or be killed". Is muti really worth it? Who will it help if the cure is within life that we live in?

Another reader has the following to say about the article:

Utterly disgusting! I have never been able to understand the inner working of these animals! Maybe we are not meant to understand any of these. I am equally appalled by the lack of interest from the government. They make stupid speeches about name changes, whilst people are being butchered. It is mind boggling to see the "Party for the masses" so fired up when it comes down to renaming Louis Trichardt. They dwell too much on useless things and fail to protect and give their citizens hope. Are they only going to act if it was a black victim and the killer had been Caucasian? That is what the ANC is so good at, playing their so lame race card. Oh won’t you grow up, smell the coffee. Clean up the town. Louis Trichardt is seriously rotting away whilst they enrich their pockets. If a ritual murder ever strikes close to home, they will see what emotions can do. I would turn the whole area inside out and hit the killers really hard. That is just me...

On a similar topic, we published a report "Muti suspects in court" on May 11. Aifheli Ndou has the following to say:

The court should really show the people of Limpopo that ritual murderers belong in jail and that would hopefully deter other people who are thinking of doing the same. We are sick and tired of people being killed for muti purposes. Maybe we need to bring back the death penalty for muti murderers, they kill people and are still allowed to live well in prison at the expense of taxpayers’ money. Maybe cases like these should be given to Chiefs and traditional leaders, because they understand this problem better than the police. Police always say "Don’t take the law in your own hands" but people are getting killed and the culprits are alive and well in correctional service centres. Only the communities could root out ritual murders, may be an eye for an eye can be used in this instance, you kill, you be killed, our court system gives too much rites[sic!] to culprits rather than the victims.