Suspected kingpin behind grave robberies in court

The Thohoyandou Magistrate Court was packed by hundreds of people wanting to catch a glimpse of Daniel Nephawe - the prime suspect in the shocking grave robbery case of Tshitavha Sambandou.

Nephawe (23) faces five charges relating to the desecration of graves and mutilating corpses. He is believed to be the boyfriend of the 17-year-old girl who confessed that she robbed graves at Tshitavha Village in order to get body parts to sell in the local muti market.

Nephawe was arrested by police over the weekend in the Western Cape, hiding in a house in George. The house reportedly belongs to a traditional healer, Erick Kwinda, who is also a co-accused in the matter. Kwinda was one of the first suspects to be arrested in the matter.

Nephawe appeared calm during his brief court appearance today, and requested assistance from the local Legal Aid office. His case was postponed until Wednesday (13 September) when he will have to appear in the Makuya Periodical Court with the other two accused in the matter, Colbert Nemasisi (29) and Mathadzhila Munyai (20).

The four men’s arrest follows a two-week long investigation by police after receiving information from the girlfriend and exhuming two graves found to either have no remains inside, or corpses with missing body parts. The girl has since been placed in a witness protection program for her own safety.

News of the exhumed graves, missing bodies and mutilated corpses, sparked outraged among the local community. Residents went on the rampage and damaged several of the suspects homes and other private property.

Read the full report in this week's editon of the Limpopo Mirror.

News in brief - Date: 12 September 2017

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.

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