Shock discovery of dead men in a cave
Property owner has seen trespassers on her land
Tina Vanezis expected to find rubbish not two badly decomposed bodies when she went to clean up a cave on her smallholding in Hennops River Valley, west of Pretoria.
The gruesome discovery came after Vanezis had been trying unsuccessfully for the past four months to evict a trespasser who had been living in the cave. The bodies are believed to be those of two missing members of the Zion Christian Church (ZCC).
A police officer on the scene said yesterday that both bodies were fully clothed. “One is wearing a khaki ZCC jacket and next to them was a ZCC cap,” said the officer. “One is sitting half right-up and lying over the body of the other.”
He said their shoes had been removed and placed next to their dead bodies. “We also found a dagga joint which was smoked halfway.”
There was a strong stench coming from the cave and flies were hovering around the entrance.
The officer said it was not known yet how the men had died. “There were too many flies and a lot of fluid around them,” he said.
It was also not clear whether there was any link between the bodies and the cave’s previous occupant.
Vanezis said she had visited the cave because she thought the trespasser had left.
“We have been trying to get rid of him for four months. Originally he came with other two guys. When we told them they were trespassing‚ they were very aggressive and threatening to us.”
Vanezis then asked the police to remove the men from the property.
“We called the police. They [the men] didn’t listen to anyone. They refused [to leave]. They just stayed here.
“Last week we managed to bring the fire department, who tried to get them to leave, but they threatened to kill us all. The fire department decided to call the police.”
The police managed to kick out the trespassers, but they were released the same day and went back to the cave.
The cave is one of at least three that the police were reportedly searching yesterday.
“Based on information we have‚ we strongly believe that there are more bodies in this cave system‚” another officer who asked not to be identified said, adding that police had received other reports of missing members of the church.
Police spokesperson Captain Augustina Selepe said only two bodies had been found so far in the cave.
“We are waiting for the search and rescue team to finalise their duties. As soon as they do that‚ we will be able to indicate how many bodies [there are] and what the motive was,” said Selepe.
The spokesman for the church could not be immediately reached for comment yesterday. –