A 24-year-old third-year Univen student from Maniini outside Thohoyandou, who went missing a week ago, came to a mysterious end and his badly injured body was found floating in the nearby Nandoni Dam.
Trevor Ngoveni, a BA student in development studies at Univen, lived alone at Maniini. He was last seen a week ago and circumstances leading to his disappearance and death are still very sketchy, with many questions unanswered.
Ngoveni, who was a described as a down-to-earth and humble person, joins a long list of people in Vhembe who have gone missing, only to be found dead later, allegedly murdered.
When he went missing, the family, assisted by the community, searched for him everywhere, including the bushes and river as far as Maungani and Thohoyandou. Many in the community believe the man could have been abducted and killed somewhere else before being dumped at Nandoni Dam.
His body was still fresh when he was discovered, a sign that he had not been dead for long.
On Thursday, angry residents of Maniini blocked the roads in the area, demanding that a door-to-door search be conducted in the area. This could have led the captors to develop cold feet and deciding to dump the young and promising student.
News of the discovery of his body spread like wildfire, and curious people from the surrounding villagers and passers-by arrived in numbers at the scene where the body was found. Family spokesperson Mr Godfrey Mphaphuli said the family were having sleepless nights and could not eat after Trevor had gone missing.
"Life has not been the same since he went missing. We suspected that something bad could have happened to him after realising that he had left his cell phone and bank cards at home. We even checked at the banks and none of his cash was withdrawn," said Mphaphuli.
He further indicated that they had searched everywhere, but all their efforts were in vain until they received a call that he had been found. "We rushed to the bridge and it was very difficult to identify him, as his head and face were badly swollen. He was badly injured and it showed that he was attacked before being killed," he added.
Limpopo police spokesperson, Lt-Col Moatshe Ngoepe, said they had opened an inquest docket. "Post-mortem tests will be done and we will be directed by the outcome as to what we should do in going forward," he said.