In a weekend marred by violent incidents, the Thohoyandou police are appealing to members of the community to help them trace suspects who might be linked to murders that occurred during the weekend in the Thohoyandou area.

Serious crimes ranging from murder and armed robberies were registered with the police over the weekend.

In one of the incidents, the Thohoyandou police have launched a massive manhunt for two suspects who robbed a businessman of R6000, airtime and some groceries, before shooting him in the stomach.

Capt Mashudu Malelo, spokesperson for the Limpopo police in Vhembe, said the incident happened on Sunday at about 20:30 at Mukoma A sina Nndu. The 40-year-old shop owner was busy talking with his three staff members when the suspects entered the shop, pretending they were customers wanting to buy something. It is alleged that they immediately produced a fire-arm and demanded money.

Malelo added that it is alleged that while the victim was still in a state of shock, one of the suspects shot him once in the stomach, while the other opened the till and helped himself to the cash that was inside. The other one took cigarettes and airtime vouchers before they vanished into the dark night. The victim was taken to the local hospital, where he is receiving medical attention.

In another, unrelated incident, police have opened a murder docket, following the discovery of an unconscious man in the bushes around the Tswinga area. The 36-year-old man suffered a serious stab wound to the stomach and was discovered by a passerby at about 10:00 on Saturday. He alerted the community, an ambulance was summoned and he was taken to Tshilidzini Hospital, where he later died of his wound.

Yet another murder was reported on Friday, where the body of a man, aged 36, was found under a bridge at the Dumasi area outside Thohoyandou. The body was discovered at about 06:00 after a resident of the area noticed a trail of bloodstains and followed it to the bridge. He immediately alerted the police. On arrival, police noticed that the deceased had multiple hack wounds all over his body. The motive of the killing is unknown.  

Malelo made a special appeal to members of the community to come forward with information that might lead them to cracking the cases.