Hijacked vehicles found burnt in bush

Date: 15 January 2016 By: Tshifhiwa Mukwevho

Members of the community who were busy ploughing fields at the Tshikhwani section of Madombidzha village discovered to burnt-out bakkies hidden in the field last weekend.

It appeared that one of the burnt-out vehicles belonged to a resident of Mashau-Bodwe, Mr Thomas Madavhu (48). Madavhu's vehicle, a white Nissan bakkie, was hijacked on Christmas evening last year.

Madavhu's younger brother, Mr John Madavhu, a hawker operating in the streets of Louis Trichardt, stopped to give a lift to two hitchhikers at the Muromani crossroad in Madombidzha. “It was at around 18:30 when I gave a lift to two men,” John said. “One opened the door and got into the passenger seat while the other jumped onto the back of the bakkie. Before I could get onto the road, four other men appeared quickly and jumped onto the back as well.”

He said that he thought that the men had just needed a lift, so he drove along the road towards Louis Trichardt. When the car reached the vicinity of Belkhado farm, the passenger took out a pistol and hit John on the mouth. The man then commanded him to stop.

“I had no choice but to stop,” he said. “The other men jumped off the bakkie and rushed to the front. I managed to get out of the car and run into the farm bushes.”

John then used his mobile phone to contact his nephew and the police. The police responded swiftly and launched a search for the men. Neither the hijackers nor the car was found on that night and the vehicle was only discovered last Friday.

“An old man who first saw the burnt-out vehicle said smoke was still coming out of it, which clearly showed that the car was burnt that day,” he said.

Later on Friday, another white bakkie was discovered burnt out in the bushes just some few metres away from the first one.

Mr Thomas Madavhu was dejected when he visited the scene and saw his burnt-out vehicle. “Whoever burnt my vehicle have burnt themselves,” he said. “Mudzimu a si nwana, ndi do renga inwe goloi (God is not a child; I will get another car). All this will pass.”

The spokesperson for the Makhado police, Const Irene Radzilane, confirmed that the police had opened a case of carjacking and that no suspects have been arrested yet. She could not confirm whether or not a case of arson had been opened.

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Tshifhiwa Mukwevho

Tshifhiwa Given Mukwevho was born in 1984 in Madombidzha village, not far from Louis Trichardt in the Limpopo Province. After submitting articles for roughly a year for Limpopo Mirror's youth supplement, Makoya, he started writing for the main newspaper. He is a prolific writer who published his first book, titled A Traumatic Revenge in 2011. It focusses on life on the street and how to survive amidst poverty. His second book titled The Violent Gestures of Life was published in 2014.

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A bakkie belonging to Mr Thomas Madavhu was found burnt out some two weeks after it was hijacked.

Mr Thomas Madavhu, owner of the one burnt-out vehicle.