The Mamidze family is still in the dark, after the disappearance of one of their beloved family members. It is said that a voice called out and the man disappeared into the dark, never to return to his family again.

The incident happened at Ha Makhuvha-Good Mabama, outside Thohoyandou, a fortnight ago.

Mr Raymond Mamidze Mashonelo went missing on the night of the 18th June and has not been seen since. His disappearance has left his family of three, his wife and two children, aged 5 and 8 years old, with many questions that cannot be answered. His wife, Mrs Makungo Rabelani (28), said something mysterious started on June 8 that eventually led to her husband’s disappearance.

According to her, he started to act strangely and said he was feeling sick and cold. “Then, all of a sudden, he started saying that the police were coming to arrest him very soon. He even said he could hear the sound of police cars and people talking in the background, saying he should be arrested and locked up for life.” She added that she did not take it seriously, but to her surprise he repeated the same thing that night. She said he then told her that he had had a quarrel with a person at a local shebeen the previous Wednesday, and that was the reason why the police should come and arrest him.

She said she was surprised, because what her husband had done was not enough to send anyone to jail, because no one was hurt it as it was a minor squabble. “It seems as if what had happened was haunting him, because he could not sleep. I asked him to go to the elders so that they could go and apologize on his behalf. On Monday, the 8th, he was admitted to hospital for three days, but nothing was diagnosed.”

She said he acted mysteriously the whole two weeks until on the night of the 18th, when he said “you will see things will be bad”, but she did not take him seriously. That night, he spent the night in his brother’s room, so that he could be with his brother. On Monday, June 19, they realized he was not in his room and thought he had woken up earlier to go to work. “We waited until it was dawn, but he didn’t show up. I tried calling people who might have seen him on that day, but they said they had not seen him,” he said.

The family finally reported the matter to the Matatshe police station on the 20th of June. After making a routine check, a case of a missing person was opened. The community and police came together for three days and searched for him in the mountains and neighboring villages, but there was no sign of him.

Mrs Rabelani said rumours started spreading that he had been seen in certain villages, but when the police went to look for him, he was not there. The wife is devastated and she is longing for her husband. “The only thing that will make me happy is to see my husband back and alive,” she said. The family said they had consulted different prophets and traditional healers, who said that Mr Mashonelo woke up on the night of the19th and followed a voice that had called him that night.