The decomposed body of a 34-year-old woman was found in the bushes near Matshavhawe village last Thursday (16th). The victim was identified as Ms Brenda Mulaudzi, who had been missing since 2 February this year.
Ms Mulaudzi was last seen with her boyfriend, and her family had been looking for her for over a month before her body was discovered by residents who were collecting firewood in the nearby bushes.
The police spokesperson, Brig Motlafela Mojapelo, said that they had been alerted by members of the community, who had discovered Mulaudzi's decomposed body in the bushes. "When members of our police team arrived at the scene, the body was lying on the ground and a plastic bag with clothes was found next to it," he said.
The results of the post-mortem and DNA tests were not yet available at the time of our going to press. Mojapelo said that Mulaudzi's boyfriend had been brought in for questioning but was later released. Their investigations are continuing.
The local community are accusing the police of not doing enough, even after they were given leads and the name of the suspect in the case.
The brother of the deceased, Mr Mashudu Mulaudzi, said the family had received a call last Thursday (16th) from one of the community members, who told them of the body that had been found in the bushes. "We went there and what we saw was shocking and heart-breaking. My sister's body was lying there. We recognised her by her clothes, even though her body was decomposed. My sister had been missing for a month and half, and we were still trying to figure out what could have happened to her when we received the bad news. We contacted her friends, but no-one had seen her, and that was when we decided to report her as missing."
He said the information they had received regarding his sister's death was that she had been killed and that "her body was discarded in the bushes like a dead dog. All we want is to see that justice is served and that those involved are brought to book. We want them to explain to us why they killed her like that. That will give us closure and a bit of acceptance to let go".
He added that his sister's death had brought a lot of misery to the family as they were now preparing for a funeral they had not planned on holding. "We are not happy that no arrests have been made so far. We gave the police the name of the suspect and, had they listened to us, all this mess would not have happened. Now we are still waiting for the DNA and post-mortem results before we can bury her," he said.