Members of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and family members of the murdered Livhuwani Rananga converged in front of the Thohoyandou Magistrate's Court on Tuesday morning (17 January), where her alleged killer, Jutas Munyai, appeared.
Rananga, who was a full-fledged member of the EFF, disappeared without a trace late last year. Her body was found dumped on the bank of the Mudaswali river two weeks later.
During Monday morning's court proceedings, magistrate Terrence Maluleke postponed the case to 25 January for further investigation.
After the court adjourned, the chairperson of the EFF in Ward 30, Mr Eric Tshitangano, said that he was surprised to see the small stature of the suspect. He said that he found believing that such a small-built young man could beat the late Livhuwani Rananga to death with his bare fists difficult. "Rananga was a very brave and very energetic woman. I have a feeling that the suspect is lying. Not even two people like him could beat Livhuwani up. He must just tell the truth, so that we know what had really happened to our brave comrade," he said.
He added that they were very disappointed that it was raining so heavily in Thohoyandou on Tuesday morning as they had intended to paint the whole place red with their members. "We planned to fill that courtroom with red berets. Next Wednesday (25 January), however, Thohoyandou will be painted red. We demand justice for Livhuwani Rananga now," he said.
Meanwhile, Rananga's father, Mr Calvin Rananga, said they would do everything in their power to make sure that those who had killed his daughter be brought to book.