A mother and son were arrested and appeared in court for allegedly killing the woman's husband with a panga after a domestic fight between the couple.
In the early hours of Sunday, 16 October, at about 02:30, the police in Thohoyandou received a report about a murder committed at Manamani village, just outside Thohoyandou.
Acting police spokesperson in the Vhembe region Sgt Vuledzani Dathi said that, on arrival at the scene, the police were shown the body of a man, who was lying on the ground. The deceased was identified as Reckon Mponyokiseni Tshimbevha (45) who, they were told, was the owner of the homestead.
"The deceased's body was thoroughly scrutinized, and a big cut wound was found on his head. Preliminary investigation revealed that, on the night of the incident, the man and his wife (suspect), were returning from a drinking spree. Both had allegedly been under the influence of liquor when they started quarrelling. The man was seen chasing his wife with a panga. The fight between the couple continued until the deceased was disarmed. His wife then used the same panga and hit her husband over the head with it, which led to his death," Sgt Dathi said.
From what could be determined, the couple's younger daughter was also home at the time. The older son, who lives on his own and claims to have been there too when the incident happened, handed himself over to the police later that same night.
Both the wife, Ms Fhatuwani Mulaudzi (40), and her son, Tsireledzo Mulaudzi (23), appeared in the Thohoyandou Magistrate's Court on Tuesday (18 October), on charges of murder.
The Thohoyandou Magistrate's Court postponed the matter to 27 October for further police investigation, and for both accused to get legal representatives to apply for formal bail.
The chairperson of the community policing forum (CPF) in the area, Ms Eulenda Sumbana, condemned the incident and said seeing a wife and husband fight to the death in front of their children was disturbing.
"As the local CPF, it also concerns us that the police took the deceased's body away without notifying his parents, who live nearby. We urge the police to organise social workers to come and console the children, who are traumatised by what they saw. The circumstances around this incident are suspicious, with the son and daughter also present when it happened. Why did they not try to intervene and help resolve the matter?" said Sumbana.
Tshimbevha will be buried on Saturday, 22 October, in Manamani village's graveyard.