The Khobo family from Davhana, outside Vuwani, has once again been plunged into deep mourning following the discovery of the body of a family member, Mr Lawrence Masia Khobo (77).
The elderly man left his home on Monday, 24 March, to collect firewood in the nearby bushes as he usually did but never returned. Community members organised search parties to find him, but it was only on Monday, 1 April, that residents of Tshimbupfe came across his body in the bush.
Ironically, Khobo is not the first family member to die under mysterious circumstances. A few years ago, his daughter, Ms Ndivhudzannyi Khobo (32), disappeared with her nine-month-old baby, only to be found buried in a shallow grave near the local cemetery. Her 34-year-old Zimbabwean boyfriend hanged himself from a tree after the incident.
Community leader Mr George Ramashia said they had received the sad news of Khobo's disappearance on Monday evening when he had failed to return home.
"Khobo sold firewood and would go into the bushes daily to collect wood for his clients, but on that particular day, he never came back. The following day, we mobilised a search party and looked everywhere but found nothing. On Tuesday, we discovered his clothing, a packet of cigarettes, a half-full cooldrink bottle, a panga, and an interrupted wood-cutting site. On Friday, the police joined us with a dog and a drone, but we still could not find him. We held a prayer service on Sunday, and our prayers were heard—on Monday, we received the news that he had been found," he said.
Ramashia described the scene as horrifying, with Khobo's naked body in a semi-decomposed state.
"His clothes were found next to his body. The condition of the remains suggested he had not been dead for long, meaning his body could have been placed there later," he said.
A family member, Mr Hulisani Khobo, said funeral arrangements were on hold, pending the post-mortem results.