Shock has gripped the tightly knit community of Folovhodwe in the Mutale area, following the discovery of two more graves that have been vandalized by a grave-robber syndicate.
Following on the recent successful exhumation and digging up of graves at Tshitavha village outside Thohoyandou, the police were at it again this week.
They dug up two graves at Folovhodwe. The graves were those of twins, aged two years, allegedly the sisters to the "grave-theft kingpin" Daniel Nephawe.
It is alleged that Nephawe has confessed that he had tampered with the graves. The digging up of the graves started about three weeks ago after shocking revelations by a 17-year-old girl, who told the community she and her former boyfriend were stealing body parts from the graves and later selling them.
Acting on the information, the police dug up the graves, and what they found was shocking. First to be dug up was the grave of Alpheus Vhudzikadzika (71), whose head was found to be missing. This was followed by the grave belonging to Mr Alpheus Phundulu (82), whose whole body was found to be missing.
After the establishment of a special police task team, they managed to arrest members of the alleged body-parts-for-sale syndicate. First to be arrested was traditional healer Erick Kwinda (39). So far, five suspects have been arrested and are currently applying for bail.
News of the latest digging up at Folovhodwe drew the attention of many in the community, who came in their numbers to watch the exhumation. In one of the graves, diggers found only clothing while in the other, they found bones, but surprisingly, the head was fractured.
The father of the twins, Mr Mihloti Nyavani, said the twins died of natural causes in 2012. "We buried them here and thought they would rest in peace. We heard of the rumours of bodies being dug up for sale but never thought that we were keeping empty graves here."
He added that when he confronted Daniel Nephawe, the latter confessed but did not say as to where he had sold the parts. "We are so devastated, not knowing where parts of our boys ended up," he said.
Limpopo police spokesperson Brig Motlafela Mojapelo confirmed that the two graves had been dug up and that in one the body was missing, while in the other pieces of bones had been found. "We will be taking the bones for forensic testing."
He added that the police would be adding charges "and we cannot rule out the possibility of more arrests in this case".