The remains believed to be those of a man from Lambani village, who went missing in January this year, were discovered in the Tshaulu Lwapambe mountains, outside Thohoyandou, on Friday, 14 October.
The bones were discovered by cattle herders at the top of the mountain, far from the village, and positively identified as those of Ntshavhiseni Khomolo (66).
Khomolo lived alone, but his family cooked for him, making sure he had something to eat every day. His niece, Ms Thetshi Khomola, said her uncle, who was home bound by an injured leg, went missing on 8 January and was never seen again. "The girl who used to bring him food did not find him on three consecutive days, and we began to worry as we knew he could not walk well. We searched everywhere, with no luck. We reported him missing to the police and, with the help of the community and the police and their dogs, searched everywhere, but he was nowhere to be found. We gave up the search after three months but still hoped he would be found alive," she said.
"When the family was notified, we went with the police and positively identified his bones through a piece of iron that supported his leg. His brown jacket and his keys were placed on a rock," she said.
Thetshi said they had no doubt that he had been ritually murdered. "It would have been impossible for him to get to the top of the mountain by himself with his weak leg. Someone must have carried him up there. We need to know what had happened to him. Somebody must explain this to us," she said.
Mr Nkhetheni Lambani of the royal council said the issue of people disappearing, just to be found dead later, was becoming a great concern for them all. "This is not the first such incident. A few years ago, Nkhangweni Disco Ndou also went missing and was later found dead. We really hope that the police will do their work and find the people responsible for this," he said.