The recent spate of gruesome ritual murders in the Malamulele area in Limpopo, where communities have implicated Indian traders as the ones who are buying the harvested body parts, has led to the disruption of their businesses in those communities.

As a way of denouncing the killings, Indians from all over Limpopo gathered at Thohoyandou and marched through the streets in a force that has not been seen in years in the town. Waving placards with messages denouncing ritual murders, Indian community members, led by church leaders and a motorcade of more than 100 cars, moved through Thohoyandou.

The march, which was organized by the Sunni Muslim Brothers, and coincided with the annual celebrations marking the birth of the prophet Mohamed. “We are here to publicly denounce our involvement in ritual murders. Ritual murder is alien to our culture and our religion abhors the shedding of blood in any way. We respect human nature and we will never be tempted to believe that human flesh could make one prosper. Our belief is to work hard and have faith that God will add value to those who labour in the sun to improve the lives of themselves and others,“ said Mohammed Rafique Lokha, the director at Christiyah Ashrafiya Mosque at Thohoyandou.

Lokha said it had come to their attention as religious leaders that communities in the villages were accusing Indian traders of having a hand in the spate of alleged ritual killings. “When we heard about this, we did not take it seriously as these allegations have been made before, but we were shocked to hear that our members were being attacked and their businesses being destroyed in the villages. That was when we realized that people meant business this time. We want the community out there to know that we are in no way involved in such barbaric acts which belong to the dark ages," he said.

He said they had always believed that they were part of the community as they assisted each other in times of bereavement when their members lent a helping hand. “Our religion dictates that we preach peace all the time. We will continue to be committed to this and we will help the community and police in the fight against ritual murders,” he said.