Rewards will help bring in those involved in ritual killings

MANY years ago, our grandmothers and fathers grew up sleeping outside because they loved and trusted each other; but, nowadays, we can’t because we can be killed and mutilated – not by animals, but by people surrounding us.

Children no longer play safely in our communities. It seems as if the moral that “any child is our child” is gone and forgotten in our communities.

Whoever said that when you kill someone and sell his/her body parts you will become rich, is destroying our communities rapidly. It is time to wake up and smell the coffee. In a short space of time:

Rhandzu Manganyi, 16, was found murdered in the Shingwedzi river in Gumbani Village outside Malamulele, with her body parts removed.

An 18-year-old girl was found dead in bushes in Mukhomi Village, with her jeans and underwear lying next to the body.

A girl was found dead in Hlanganani Village with her body parts removed, and this caused outrage in the community.

A man was found dead after he was last seen asking for a lift from the principal in Maphophe Village outside Malamulele.

A boy was found dead in Shigalo village holding a R50 note in his hands and body parts.

What worries me the most is that police are failing to arrest perpetrators because they are not willing to issue as little as R1 000 reward to someone who can come up with valuable information that can lead to the arrest of these criminals.

But if one of the above-mentioned deceased was a daughter/ son of a mayor, trust me, a reward of up to R100 000 would be issued by now for any information that could lead to the arrest of suspects who mutilated him/her.

People who are doing this live with us in our communities and someone knows them. I think money can motivate them to reveal everything. Justice must prevail. We hope that one day, children will grow up to be educated and help to develop our communities.

It’s very unfortunate that, even in 2017, we have to still talk about the ritual killings or muti killings, which is unacceptable. There is no way that a human body part can assist anybody to become rich or to be successful in business. The belief that human body parts are potent medicine, and can also bring about fortune, is suspected to be driving the killings.

I call on all traditional healers who are involved in ritual killings to refrain from such acts. If you can’t find a proper way of healing our people, you better quit as soon as possible because we are no longer going to live in a society where every month we bury our loved ones found mutilated.

This is a serious issue which doesn’t deserve to be swept under the carpet. If the government and people in general continue to relax and fold their arms, this syndicate is going to intensify, especially in Limpopo. Miyelani Hlungwani

No way a human body part can make you rich