Grieving family not expelled from Tshino village

The grieving Mtileni Masuvekele family of Tshino, whose three-year-old boy went missing last week and was found dead in a pit toilet, have expressed outrage and shock about the rumour that they were implicated in his death and that they were expelled from the village.

The boy, Bonginkosi Modike, went missing under mysterious circumstances on Monday, 5 December. He suddenly disappeared from his home at Ndiitwani. The boy’s grandmother had quickly gone out to the local spaza shop, leaving the boy in the care of his uncle, when the incident happened.

Soon after news of his disappearance became known, the police, assisted by members of the community, began an intensive search for the boy, but the search did not yield a positive outcome. Only on the second day was the boy was found in a pit toilet in the family’s yard.

The boy was allegedly found with his lower lip missing, and this raised suspicions that he was ritually murdered and his body dumped in the toilet. Soon thereafter, angry community members started accusing the family of being complicit in the incident.

Following the rumours, a community meeting was held at the village on Wednesday, 7 December, where a decision was allegedly taken that the family should be expelled from the village.

Limpopo Mirror visited the family on Thursday, 15 December, but the family did not seem to know that they were no longer wanted in the village. They were carrying on with their daily lives, seemingly oblivious to the aggressive behaviour of some residents in the area.

When asked to comment, the family requested to be given space to mourn their loved one. They referred all questions to their legal representative, Advocate Enos Tshimangadzo Muthobi of Muthobi Legal Services.

Muthobi said the rumour that the family members had been expelled from the village was news to him. “The family members know nothing about this and are at home and still in mourning, following the death of their loved one. It is also shocking that the family members are being accused of the incident. It seems as if there are members of the community who have an agenda against the family,” he said.

Adv Muthobi said that the result of the post mortem was not yet back and the police had not completed their investigation. “Why not give the police space to do their investigations and the law to take its course?” said Muthobi.

Community leader Mr Gideon Mukhovha said the community had since taken a compromising stance on the incident. “We met over the weekend and we have decided to give [the] police space to investigate the case. We urge the police to speed up the investigations and ensure that the culprits are brought to book,” he said.

Date:22 December 2022

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. He currently writes on a freelance basis, covering human rights issues, court news and entertainment.

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