The suspect who appeared in court last week in connection with the kidnapping and murder of Ms Fhatuwani Asnath Nguluvhe (34) has been linked to more cases of rape. Shortly after he had appeared in the Thohoyandou Magistrate's Court, more people came to the fore, claiming that he was the person who had kidnapped and raped them.
Mashudu Bele (35) from Mudzidzidzi village appeared in court on Friday afternoon on charges of murder and being in possession of stolen property. This followed the disappearance of Ms Nguluvhe from the Thavhani Mall on 6 March this year.
Nguluvhe's family opened a missing-person case at the Thohoyandou Police Station shortly after she had gone missing. She was renting a room at Maniini village, which is just a stone's throw away from Thavhani Mall.
After her disappearance was reported, her brothers, Livhuwani and Robert Munyai from Mapakoni village in Niani, organised a search party with community members from their village, which is about 60 kilometres from Thohoyandou. They started searching the bushes around Maniini village and the surrounding areas, but to no avail.
The police were not idle during the search. The provincial police spokesperson, Brig Motlafela Mojapelo, said that, after lengthy investigations conducted by the Thohoyandou detectives and the Provincial Missing Persons Task Team, the suspect was arrested at Tshikweta village at about 21:00 on Wednesday night, 22 March. He was allegedly found in possession of bank cards belonging to the missing woman.
According to Mojapelo, Nguluvhe's body was found along the R524 Punda Maria road, next to Maniini village, that same night, already in an advanced stage of decomposition.
Bele was allegedly operating as an illegal taxi driver (e-hailer) in and around Thohoyandou. The allegation includes that he advertised his fake taxi business on social-media platforms, where people would phone him, requesting a ride to their destinations.
When he appeared in court on Friday afternoon, he appeared confused and looked at the magistrate without blinking an eye. When asked if he wished to get a legal aid lawyer from the state or his own lawyer, he said he would conduct his own defence. The case was postponed to 4 April for a formal bail application.
Immediately after Bele's appearance in court, Mr Phathutshedzo Ramabulana, secretary of the Vhembe Concerned Group, was contacted by a young woman who claimed that the suspect was the same person who had kidnapped and raped her repeatedly on 5 March this year, only a day before Nguluvhe disappeared.
Ramabulana immediately contacted Limpopo Mirror and arranged for an interview with the woman. She told the reporter that Bele had used the same modus operandi - pretending to be an e-hail taxi driver. She said she had requested a lift to Maniini village, but instead he drove towards Thohoyandou Unit D. "When I asked him why he was driving in the wrong direction, he threatened me with a knife and a hammer and said I must cooperate if I don't want to die," she said.
According to the woman, Bele parked his car next to Thohoyandou Technical School and commanded her to undress at knife point. "He raped me without using a condom. When he finished the first time, he said he was not satisfied and wanted anal sex. He raped me repeatedly, as if he was on pills. It was very, very painful," she cried softly.
The woman said Bele had robbed her of R300 in cash and a cellphone. Then he asked her where she lived and with whom. When she told him that she was a tenant and lived alone in Maniini village, he asked her for directions and put her, still naked, into the boot of the car. "When we arrived at the room I am renting, he parked the car a distance away from the gate, then took my keys and went into my room, leaving me in the boot. He stole two pairs of Cavella shoes, two pairs of Drip shoes and other items, including my bras. He came back to the car, drove a little bit, opened the boot and told me to get out and run for my life before he drove away. I ran to my room naked."
According to her, she had opened a case at the Thohoyandou Police Station on 6 March.
Immediately after the interview, Ramabulana took the woman to the local police detectives' offices in Thohoyandou. "When she told the detectives her story, they managed to get her case number and took the suspect (Bele) to where he is staying with his live-in lover at Tshikweta village to look for the stolen items. They left me with the victim at their offices," Ramabulana said.
He added that, after a while, the detectives came back with some of the items that were stolen from the victim's room, which they had recovered from Bele's house. "They found the pair of Cavella shoes and the pair of Drip shoes. They (the police) told the victim that they will contact her after completing their investigations," Ramabulana said.
In a late development, Bele appeared in court on Wednesday (29th) and was charged with kidnapping, rape and being found in possession of stolen property. This is in connection with the woman who claims that she was raped repeatedly next to the Thohoyandou Technical High School on 5 March. The cases have been combined, and Bele will appear in court again on April 4.