Yes, Mia Muofhe was murdered

Mia Muofhe was murdered. She suffered a painful death of being suffocated, possibly in the early morning hours of 28 January 2023. Her lifeless body was then dumped in a water-filled pit toilet next to her home.

This is what the State believes happened at Mangondi Sidou, outside Thohoyandou. The State bases part of its case on the post-mortem and DNA test results that became available last week. The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) also believes that the person responsible for the death of Ms Lindelani Nengovhela (popularly known as Mia Muofhe) is her husband, Livhuwani Madadzhe (39).

Madadzhe, better known as comedian SABC Livhu, was arrested within hours after the dead body of his wife was discovered. The previous night, he and his wife hosted a celebratory party with friends. They were in a joyful mood after Mia Muofhe had dropped the assault charges she had previously laid against Madadzhe.

After the party, the friends were allegedly housed in the main house while Madadzhe and his wife slept in the two rooms next to the main house. Later that same night, Madadzhe went to the main house and told the guests she was missing. He reported her missing at the Thohoyandou Police Station the next morning. The “missing” woman was later found dead in a water-filled pit toilet outside. Madadzhe was arrested the same day and appeared in court. He has since appeared in court on numerous occasions and was granted bail of R50,000 in April last year.

The decision that he will have to stand trial for the murder came as quite a shock to Madadzhe. He appeared in the Thohoyandou Magistrate’s Court again last Friday (3 May). Prior to his appearance, rumours were rife that the charges against him would be dropped.

During his court appearance on Monday, 29 April this year, Madadzhe seemed to be in an optimistic mood. His legal representative, Adv Ntsako Hlungwani, asked that the case be struck from the roll. At that stage, numerous delays in obtaining the post-mortem and DNA test results had occurred, and the DPP had seemingly not made a decision as to whether Madadzhe should be prosecuted or not. A final postponement was granted to allow the State to get the necessary information.

The mood in the Madadzhe camp changed dramatically on Friday when the announcement was made that the test results had come back and that the DPP had decided to prosecute. The cause of Ms Nengovhela’s death was suffocation. Madadzhe is to be charged with her murder as well as defeating the ends of justice for trying to conceal her body in a pit toilet. A trial date was set for 16 to 20 September 2024 in the Thohoyandou High Court.

The DPP’s decision to prosecute Madadzhe managed to quell tempers that were already at boiling point. It was hailed by Family members of the late Ms Lindelani Nengovhela hailed the news as the best that they had heard in a long time.

The late Lindelani Ngovhela’s aunt, Ms Elsie Nengovhela, was thankful that the court had not let them down. “It feels like I am in a dream. This has been a very bumpy journey. We have been in and out of court on a number of occasions, with nothing said about the trial. We almost lost hope and sometimes felt let down. We are extremely excited that finally the trial date has been set and that hopefully justice would soon be served,” she said.

Date:10 May 2024

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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