By Kaizer Nengovhela and Maanda Bele
The members of the Thame family from Magau Village in the Sinthumule area are appealing to residents to stop spreading rumours that their sibling, John Thame, whom they buried in the late 1980s, has risen from the dead and turned into a zombie.
News of the "dead man that came alive" quickly spread last week and residents of Magau and surrounding areas gathered at the gate of the Thame house. A picture was also doing the rounds on social media of a man wearing sunglasses on his forehead, presumably without a tongue.
The news about the "zombie" that had appeared quickly went viral and the family had their hands full to answer questions. Some people who commented on social-media platforms said that the story is not true, because the man who suddenly appeared was not circumcised (which the dead man presumably was).
The family called for calmness and said that DNA tests would first have to be done to determine whether the person who was found was really the man whom they thought had died in 1989.
Speaking to Limpopo Mirror this week, Ms Linda Thame confirmed that a man whom they suspect is her brother had indeed returned home last week. She said the family was busy with DNA tests to verify whether he was actually her brother. "He has the same scars as my late brother. We checked three to four scars and they are all the same," she said.
The family members explained that John Tshamaano Thame had presumably died and was buried in March 1989. At the time, he had worked in Gauteng, where he fell ill and was admitted to the Garankuwa Hospital. He was later transferred to Elim Hospital and then to the Tshilidzini Hospital.
The Thame family members were only informed about his death two weeks later, but had apparently not gone to identify the body. According to Ms Thame, the family members had been in a state of shock and grief and had immediately started with the funeral arrangements. They would often visit the graveyard to clean his grave and pay their respects.
A few weeks ago a family member working at a filling station at Bandelierkop got quite a surprise when he spotted a man who bore a striking resemblance to the man who had died 33 years ago. Bandelierkop is about 40 kilometres from the family's home at Ha-Magau.
The family members went to the filling station, where they saw the man. People remarked that he was scavenging from the dustbins and seemingly couldn't talk. When they initially tried to speak to him, he disappeared. Another relative, however, found him last week and brought him to the family. The Thame family members were convinced that this could very well be their relative and took him in to stay with them.
For now, the family members are asking people to give them some space while they are awaiting the DNA results. Should the man who was found turn out to be John Tshamaano Thame, that also leaves the question as to who had then been buried in 1989.
The story elicited a lot of emotions among people, who expressed their fear of "zombies" and people who seemingly returned from the dead. Superstitious beliefs are also very rife in the area, with many believing that the man who now appeared must first be "cleansed" by traditional healers.
The president of the Vhembe Traditional Health Practitioners, Mbilivhili Neluvhola, said that the man needed to be treated. "His family needs to take him to traditional doctors where he will get help," he said.
Neluvhola advised the family to first do a DNA test and to dig up the grave and check whom or what they had buried three decades ago. "If there are no bones (in the grave), then they have a serious problem," he said. He said they might find that a mix-up had occurred at the hospital. "You might find that the family buried the wrong person, or they buried nothing in the grave. It happens; this place is full of wonders," he said.
Another traditional healer, Maine Vho-Joyce Mainganye Nemaungani from Maungani village, said that what had happened in Magau village was very scary. "I am scared. After so many years of being a sangoma, I have never come across such things," she said. Although Nemaungani did not want to acknowledge the existence of zombies, she also did not want to deny their existence.