After the arrest and conviction of known ritual murderers in the Vhembe District, everybody sighed with relief, hoping it would be the last that people would hear of such barbaric deaths. How wrong they were as more and more people are killed or disappear under inexplicable circumstances. The Nelufule family of Makhuvha-Ndarieni outside Thohoyandou is one of the unlucky families who lost a beloved family member under mysterious circumstances.

Granny Lavhengwa Nelufule (84) died a painful and horrible death in what family members believe was a well-planned ritual killing. Her mutilated body, with some body parts allegedly harvested for muti, was found next to a road at Khubvi a fortnight ago. The incident, which is said to be the fourth in the once peaceful village, has shocked community members, who do not know who will be next.

It is alleged that gogo Nelufule left home for a church party at Tshidzini in the company of others on Sunday, March 8. Nelufule, who was clad in her church regalia, allegedly boarded a taxi at around five, heading for home after the function, but she never arrived home.

Fhatuwani Nelufule, son of the deceased, said they were not worried when his mother did not arrive home as they thought she might have thought of sleeping over at one of her daughters’ house. Fhatuwani said he decided to enquire from his sister, Mavis Shivhidzho, who told him that she had not come to her daughter’s house. “I became very worried as all people were denying any knowledge of her. I started to sense that something was wrong,” he said.

He said he also enquired from those who had gone with her, but not all could give a satisfactory answer. “After trying all the people in vain, I decided to go to the local satellite police station.” Fhatuwani said he received the shock of his life when police gave him the description of an old woman who was found dead next to a road at Khubvi. It was suspected that she had been knocked over in a hit-and-run accident, but the family holds a contrary view, namely that she was actually killed for her body parts.

“I was so shocked because the description fitted my mother and we thought she was still alive. We never expected to identify her at the mortuary as she was not sick when she left home.” He said he immediately had some doubts that something had happened to her before she was killed. Firstly, the place where she was found is suspicious as she did not have any business there. Her intestines were hanging out of the stomach, reminiscent of their having been pulled out. She had deep cut below the chin, which looks consistent with a cut by a sharp blade. Part of her brain was missing and she had a deep wound on her left hand.

“We have no doubts that our mother was ritually murdered somewhere and dumped by the road to make it look like an accident,” he said. Fhatuwani said he was worried that the post mortem conducted on her body was done without family members present. “We suspect there is a cover-up on the part of the police. They are lazy to investigate this case and want the matter to be swept under the carpet,” said an angry Fhatuwani.

He said the family would not rest until they had a clear picture of what had happened to their mother before she had been killed was put forward. “This is not an accident at all. Not even people who live next to the road heard any noise or the sound of a car. She was killed some-where else and brought here to fake an accident,” he said.

Limpopo police spokesperson in Vhembe Captain Mashudu Malelo confirmed that members of the family who were supposed to witness the post mortem refused to enter the place where it was held. He said according to the information gathered at the scene, they opened a culpable homicide docket that is subject to alteration if new evidence to the contrary would come to the fore. He said the body was badly mutilated, as it is believed it was run over by more than one vehicle.

“Post mortem results have not been confirmed yet, and as soon as we get official results that are contrary to the initial view, a new docket will be opened.” He urged members of the family and the public to come forward with any evidence that point to ritual murder, so that the police can take it from there. “We work on the basis of the postmortem and if the family has any concrete evidence pointing to ritual murder, they are at liberty to can furnish it to us and investigations will be altered to murder,” said Malelo.