Angry mob resorts to arson

BURGERSFORT – Horrible scenes played out at Diphale and Sikiti villages, when angry youths went on the rampage torching five houses, two tuck shops and several cars. One of the houses that was destroyed was that of local Chief Kgoshi William Mohlala.

The arsonists accused the homeowners of being behind the alleged ritual murder of Ms Nanatjie Mpuru (20) of Diphale, who went missing on December 10 last year. Her decomposed body was discovered on January 4, almost a month after her disappearance. It was found in a farm field with the genitals, breasts, eyes and other body parts removed.

The first house to be burnt was that of Mr Salman Silimela of Sikiti on Sunday evening, leaving him with nothing but the clothes he wore that fateful night.

His house was allegedly set alight by Diphale residents who had hijacked a bus and taxis to travel to Sikiti Village.

“I was taken by the police on Sunday afternoon for questioning about the murder of Mpuru. I don’t know anything about her disappearance. I have never met her in my life. I was shocked about the allegations against me,” Silimela said.

He said the police had released him on January 18, as there was no concrete evidence linking him to the murder.

“To my shock I arrived to find my house in ashes. My belongings had been stolen, I am left with nothing, only my work suit,” he said.

The Diphale residents were not done, because they proceeded to Chief Mohlala’s residence on Monday evening.

According to Mohlala, the arsonists arrived at his home and accused him of calling the police when they wanted to murder Silimela.

“I tried to calm them and wanted to sit with them and discuss the rumours about me, but some were already stealing and vandalising my property.

They burnt my double-storey house and four vehicles that included a Nissan 1400, Toyota Prado, Hilux and an Avanza. My tuck shop was also set alight,” the chief said.

Mohlala stated that his loss amounted to more than R3 million. He also denied to have participated in the ritual murder of Mpuru, who according to sources, was his niece.

On the same evening the Diphale villagers also set houses alight belonging to Messrs Joseph Mokoena, Butana Morema and Jantjie Maneke. The trio’s cars were also torched. They are Mohlala’s right hands and worked at the Moshate (tribal authority). According to sources, the community alleged the Moshate was the mastermind behind Mpuru’s murder.

The deceased’s family was not available for comment as they were still too traumatised by the whole ordeal.

Mecklenburg SAPS spokesman,

Const Kgalake Mampuru, said they were making progress in the quest to arrest the arsonists. “We are busy with investigations and with the help of the community I believe we will be arresting the suspects soon.”

Mampuru said the area was calm since they had deployed public-order police to monitor the situation.