Vleifontein residents on rampage after rumour of ritual murder

The community of Vleifontein went on the rampage on Monday, blocked the road from Elim to the N1 and streets around the area with rocks, burning tyres, electricity poles and other objects.

It follows the identification of the body of a woman who was recovered floating in the dam a fortnight ago. It was identified as Ms Eaglet Ramaligela (56), who had been missing for two weeks.

The community felt that the police were reluctant to arrest possible suspects, whom they believe to be members of the community. During a community meeting on Sunday, where the mysterious death of Ms Ramaligala was discussed, several people alleged that ritual murderers were operating in the area.

On Monday, members of the community went to all the schools around the area to force the pupils to go out and support them in their demand that the alleged ritual-murder suspects be arrested. The shops around were closed for some time and the roads around Vleifontein and Maila were blocked. Angry members of the community even broke down the bus stop and put it in the road.

Mr Happy Mulaudzi, son of the deceased, agreed that they were not happy about the way in which the police were handling the case. He acknowledged that there were parts missing from his mother's body. “The police are not willing to arrest the suspects. They are not acting against people we know are involved in the murder.” He added that they were still waiting for the police to supply them with the post mortem report.

He added that it was a mystery how the body could end up in the dam, far away from her home. He said that his mother had gone missing after attending a prayer meeting at Maila village.

Police spokesperson Col Ronel Otto said that the police were still waiting for the post mortem report. "At this stage, we have no evidence linking anybody to the death of Ms Ramaligela. We are now appealing to members of the public to give us space to work on the case.” She also appealed to members of the community to supply information that can shed light on the incident.

King Toni Mphephu Ramabulana has appealed to the community to refrain from taking the law into their own hands. He said the community should “help the police with information that can lead to the arrest and successful prosecution of the suspects who are responsible for this murder.” He appealed to the community to leave the school children alone to go to school.

Community members, who commented on condition of anonymity, revealed that people no longer felt safe in their own homes. "If you don’t see one of your children for two to three hours, you start to wonder whether the child is still alive or not," a resident said.

Ms Ramaligela was working in the Expanded Public Works Programme of the Makhado municipality and is survived by five children. She will be buried today (Friday).

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Author: Kaizer Nengovhela

Date:30 January 2015

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Kaizer Nengovhela

Kaizer Nengovhela started writing stories for Limpopo Mirror in 2000. Prior to that he had a five year stint at Phala-Phala FM as sports presenter. In 2005 Kaizer received an award from the province's premier as Best Sports Presenter. The same year he was also nominated as Best Sports Reporter by the Makhado Municipality. Kaizer was awarded the Mathatha Tsedu award in 2014.