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North West police called to intensify investigations into the sale of body parts

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The community of Mahikeng in the North West called on police to intensify investigations into the selling of body parts.  This comes after the body of 42-year-old Baitibadi Maduna was found in bushes in the Dithakong East area recently. Some of her body parts were missing.

The body of her 48-year-old partner Macdonald Stevens was found nearby. The lifeless bodies of Stevens and his girlfriend Maduna were found in the bushes in Dithakong East village last week Sunday and Tuesday respectively. They were both found with stab wounds, and his taxi stolen.

According to the police, Maduna’s body was found with some body parts missing. Both their families are distraught and in a quest for justice. Phemelo Mokaila is Maduna’s daughter, while Jeanette Stevens is Macdonald Stevens’ aunt.

Daughter of the deceased Phemelo Mokaila says, “My mom was a bubbly person. She was very energetic. She was an outspoken person, she never bottled things in her heart. That is when we knew when she didn’t appear at work in two days we knew that something was wrong because she loved her work.”

Aunt to the deceased Jeanette Stevens says, “Only justice must be served. They must not take in these suspects, only to let them go. We must not see lenient sentences because that will lead to their early release while our children, our son, Sonnyboy is underground. We don’t blame people who take matters into their own hands, this is painful.”

This gruesome murder traumatised the community. Residents are now fearing for their lives.  “We are scared. We don’t even know if we are safe. We would love police to increase their presence,” says one resident.

Another adds, “We are shocked. We never see these types of gruesome killings in our area.”

Residents suspect that Maduna’s body parts might have been sold. They have called on relevant authorities to investigate the alleged trading of body parts.

Ward councillor Mbali Phetha explains, “We would like our government to investigate thoroughly and search for those people who are buying parts because there are many killings of this nature in our country. We want to investigate and search for people buying parts from these perpetrators, they are the ones encouraging this sort of crime. Government must extensively look into this.”

Two suspects have been arrested over the weekend and will appear in court on Monday. They face two counts of kidnapping, two counts of murder, and carjacking.

Stevens’ taxi was found stripped in Lenasia.

Meanwhile, two more bodies were found in the same policing precinct over the weekend. Police have opened inquest dockets and post-mortems are underway.

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