A group of learners from Photani Secondary School in Mulamula village in Malamulele received the shock of their lives when they accidentally stumbled upon a decomposed body floating inside a sewage pipe at the school.
The shocking discovery was made last Friday morning, 28 July, when a group of learners were practising their dances for an upcoming cultural event. While they were dancing outside, some of them went to stand on top of a sewage pipe when a part of debris covering the pipe fell in. This piqued their curiosity to look inside the sewage pipe. To their great consternation, a decomposed corpse was floating in the sewage.
According to Limpopo police spokesperson Col Malesela Ledwaba, members of the Search and Rescue Diving Unit were immediately summoned to the scene. "They managed to retrieve a body which was wearing blue jeans with traditional bangles. The gender of the body could not be determined at the scene due to the advanced stage of decomposition," he said.
The police investigations are ongoing.
Limpopo Mirror spoke to one of the learners who made the discovery, a Grade 12 learner, who wished to remain anonymous. "When we screamed, other learners also came to look. We were so frightened. Some of us were supposed to write a Geography test that day, which was not possible after what we saw," he said.
On Monday morning, 31 July, the learners received counselling from a psychologist and members of the community Pastor's Forum.
Mr Justice Mashaba, a member of the school governing body, expressed their shock over the gruesome find and said the incident had left them with many questions.
The corpse is currently stored in the Giyani government mortuary, where a postmortem will be conducted in due course to determine the cause of death. The identity of the deceased is also still unknown.
Community members from the area or anyone who is missing a loved one or relative are urged to contact the investigating officer, Warrant Officer Mzamani Shivhambu, on 082 3199 724. Alternatively, call the Crime Stop number on 08600 10111, visit the nearest police station, or send a message on the MysapsApp.