Shock as missing woman's decomposed body is found.

Residents of Phadzima Mazhazhani outside Thohoyandou could not believe their eyes on Saturday when a man, said to be the boyfriend of a woman who had been missing for almost a month, pointed out a bushy area next to the local cemetery where her decomposed body was found.

Ms Suzan Mabala (30) went missing after receiving a call from the father of her child, who wanted to meet her outside the home. She was never seen again and her disappearance left turmoil in the village, after angry residents went on the rampage by burning the local Vhulaudzi police station and two police vans.

The local community accused the police of not doing enough even after giving them leads and the name of the suspect in the case. It took only two days after the burning of the station and the vans for the police to act and arrest the man, who later pointed out the scene where the body was found.

Mabala and boyfriend Rodney Tshivhula had a maintenance court dispute pending, concerning their five-year-old daughter. Her body was found at an orchard adjacent to the cemetery, not far from the woman’s home. The news of the discovery spread to all the surrounding villages and within a short space of time, the scene was swarming with curious onlookers.

The disappearance and subsequent discovery of the body raised fears that life is cheap nowadays. Around seven cases of disappearances, with some victims found dead, are alleged to have occurred since the beginning of the year in the Vhembe area.

The murdered woman's brother, Ridivhona Mabala, said the discovery of his sister's body had brought some relief but with pain. "We had hoped that she would be found alive, but the opposite is the case. We have accepted her death, but we will never forget what happened. The whole incident has left a lot of pain in the family. Our mother, Melica Mabala, had a heart attack and she died because of our sister’s disappearance. We buried her last Saturday.”

His said that his father, Mr Solomon Mabala, was also experiencing heart problems and eight members of the family had been arrested about the public violence that occurred in the area last week.

Mabala added that they were in a state of confusion, not knowing how to deal with the situation and to prepare for his sister's burial. He blamed the police for the whole fiasco, saying that, had they listened to the family, things would not have gone that far. “We gave police the name of the suspect and had they listened to us, all this mess would not have happened,” he said.

Limpopo police spokesperson Lt-Col Moatshe Ngoepe confirmed that the woman's body has been found after an intelligence-led operation. "The deceased's 30-year-old boyfriend, Dorobo Rodney Tshivhula, has been arrested for killing her and disposing of her body in the bush. He appeared at the Dzanani Magistrate’s Court on Monday and the case was postponed to 7 June and he stays in custody," said Ngoepe.

Meanwhile, Limpopo police commissioner Lt-Gen Nneke Ledwaba commended officers who worked around the clock to crack the case, but appealed to residents to give the police space to investigate cases and not to engage in acts of vigilantism.

The 21 people arrested for burning the Vhulaudzi police station and two police vehicles appeared in the Thohoyandou Magistrate’s Court and were charged with public violence, arson, malicious damage to property and an illegal gathering. They were not granted bail and the case was postponed to 21 June.

Date:20 May 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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