Cold-blooded murder

Community members residing in the Tshifulanani-Zwavhavhili area are still reeling in disbelief, following the cold-blooded murder of one of the most trusted carpenters in the village.

Mr Joseph Mazhambe (37), a Zimbabwean national, was shot dead on Saturday evening shortly after 21:00.

Mazhambe, who designed and built kitchen units and other furniture, was in the company of his brother Amos and a female family member, when they were ambushed by two armed men a few metres from their home. The men demanded valuables from them.

The female family member described the terrible ordeal earlier this week. “We walked less than a 100 metres from the house and met two men who were standing at the corner. They suddenly produced firearms and ordered us to lie on our stomachs. They took our cell phones and demanded money, which we did not have.” She said that the fact that they had no money with them, made the robbers very angry “and they even trampled on us, saying we were foreigners. They ordered the men to leave “so that they could take me away, but uncle Joseph refused and tried to wrestle the gun from them. They shot him and he died at the scene.”

The woman added that Mr Amos Mazhambe was lucky to have escaped with his life, but was shot in the leg.

She said that the two robbers then took her to the bushes where they both raped her. She is about six months pregnant and the incident has left her devastated. She indicated that what saddens her most, is the fact that a man was killed while trying to protect her from being raped.

A friend of the deceased, Mr Simon Sibanda, said the death of his friend is a terrible loss to the community. “Joseph was a hard worker who was known all over the villages. With the money he made from his work, he took care of his wife and child and his family back in Zimbabwe.”

The councillor for Ward 33 in the Thulamela municipality, Ms Azwitamisi Rasendedza, condemned the incident, urging all to be united in the fight against crime. “We have a responsibility to deny criminals space in our communities. We should all be vigilant to crime and report all acts of criminality to the police and our area would be a safer place to live in,” she said.

Date:08 April 2017

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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