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Brutal killings and the harvesting of body parts for muti have communities living in fear of an enemy living in their midst. This Tuesday Special Assignment takes viewers to the hills around Thohoyandou in the heart of the Limpopo province where many residents have been found butchered and their body parts removed.
We visit the home of 7-year-old Mulweli Ramuedi whose mutilated body was found dumped in a river near his home. Rumours abound as to the identity of the killer but police have as yet not managed to make any arrests. Mulweli is the second child in his neighbourhood to be killed for muti.
In another incident a mother of seven children was found murdered in the mountains. Several body parts were hacked off. The suspect is her estranged husband.
 We speak to experts on muti murders and according to one of them, Professor Victor Ralushai, “It’s a deeply rooted practice, it cannot be stopped overnight.” He says what was once a royal custom, is now motivated by personal gain. An extensive market for body parts has opened up, controlled by ruthless operators out to enrich themselves.
But the trade in body parts for muti is not just confined to the Limpopo province. In Mafeking in the North-West Province, our private investigator secretly tapes a conversation with a young man eager to provide body parts to willing buyers. On camera the young man confesses to two murders and he tries to sell an eye, which he says was taken from a dead body. Our investigator also speaks to a traditional healer who convinces him that he specialises in “strong medicine” which contains human parts.
This disturbing documentary is produced by Johann Abrahams and will air on SABC 3 on Tuesday, 16 January 2007, at 21h30.
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