Ravele residents discover six stolen coffins
Watch group members who made the discovery, found the empty coffins stuffed with blood-stained tissues and some covered in soil.

LIMPOPO – Residents in Ravele in Sinthumule were left baffled after six coffins, some seemingly dug up from graves, were discovered in an abandoned house in the village two weeks ago.
The coffins were reportedly discovered by the village’s community night watch group members who were patrolling the area.
According to one member, who wished to remain anonymous, they were raiding a house in the residential area suspected of being used to hide stolen property on the evening the gruesome discovery was made.
“We sensed a foul smell, and came upon a lot of coffins. They were empty, but some had clearly already been used. There were blood-stained tissues stuffed inside some of the coffins, and they were covered in soil. Some looked new. Two were children’s coffins, while the other four were adult-sized coffins.”
Police spokesperson Sgt Tshifhiwa Radzilani confirmed the discovery of the coffins.
“What is baffling to us is the fact that no incidents of dug-up graves had been reported in the area recently. Therefore, we are not discounting the possibility that the coffins could have come from somewhere else. We will get to the bottom of this as soon as we start with our investigations,” said Radzilani.
Several community members have expressed their fear that the area might be targeted by grave vandals. “We are still trying to get over the shock and hope the police can track the origin of these coffins. The question remains, what has happened to the corpses?” one resident asked.
According to Sam Ntshauba, the chairperson of the South African Funeral Practitioners Association, this is not the first incident of its kind in the Vhembe area.
“Thugs have been targeting the most expensive tombstones in the graveyard lately. The suspicion is that the stolen tombstones are polished and erected on other graves. The community is working with various law enforcement structures to make sure this does not happen again.”
Ntshauba believes bogus local undertakers, and the people they hire to erect tombstones and coffins, are most likely behind the disappearing coffins and tombstones in the Vhembe area.
“People spend so much money on coffins and tombstones, and these guys are stealing them just to resell them again‚” he said.
He warned the culprits to refrain from such practices, saying the community will eventually no longer trust undertakers.
“The community must also watch out for cheap, unregistered labourers and report these kinds of incidents to the police.”
