The mysterious disappearance of people in the Vhembe region continues unabated as the personal belongings of yet another woman who had gone missing were found in the Thathe Vondo forest. The woman, however, remains missing.
Ms Hulisani Shaleen Mafeladzulo (25) from Duthuni, outside Thohoyandou, went missing on her way to work on Monday, 25 September, and has not been seen since.
Her mother, Ms Thivhakoni Mafeladzulo, said that her daughter, who works at a retail shop in the Thavhani Mall in Thohoyandou, bade her goodbye before leaving for work just after 06:00 on the morning of her disappearance. That was the last time she had heard from Hulisani. "Before she left, she informed me that she had arranged with a local taxi driver to pick her up for work. Not knowing that she did not reach her workplace, I even sent her a WhatsApp, asking her to bring some mageu on her way home. It was only later that I noticed that her phones had been switched off. She never came home. What gives me sleepless nights is that when I inquired from the taxi driver who was supposed to pick her up whether he had seen her at all that day, he became rude to me, even though I was polite to him."
Thivhakoni said the family began searching everywhere for Hulisani when she did not return, but she was nowhere to be found, and no one saw her or knew where she was. In the end, they reported her as missing at the police station.
On Friday, 29 September, some community members went out again and searched in the bushes in the Thathe Vondo forest, where they found Hulisani's ID and handbag, as well as a container and shoes that belong to her.
"We are in so much pain. My daughter has two children who constantly want to know where their mother is. We do not even know what to tell them. We were devastated when her belongings were discovered in the forest. The investigating officer showed me shoes, which I identified as hers. We do not know what could have happened to her, but we hold on to the hope that we will find her alive. It just disturbs us that the taxi driver, who is supposed to help us, is not being helpful at all," Thivhakoni said.
Hulisani's is not the only missing-person case to be reported in the region recently. Earlier in September, the skeleton and clothing matching the ones that were worn by another missing woman, Ms Naledzani Makhado from Vyeboom, in Vuwani, were found in the bushes at Tshitungulwane, near Lwenzhe High School. Makhado (52) has been missing since 2021.
These disappearances have sparked fear in communities in the Vhembe region.
Vhembe SAPS' spokesperson, W/O Vuledzani Dathi, confirmed that a missing-person docket has been opened, following Hulisani's disappearance.