Of missing persons, alleged ritual killings
Pini Bothoko | Monday December 25, 2023 06:00
Recently, two people went missing in Molepolole, something that pushed villagers to run amok burning houses, a shelter at the village kgotla, and tyres blocking the main roads as they suspected the missing persons were abducted for ritual purposes.
Then, a taxi driver Phenyo Jakoba went missing on November 9, 2023 after failing to return home from work, which raised the family’s worry as they described it as a strange thing for him to have done.
The following morning, Jakoba’s taxi was found driven by Bakang Masole, 23, who claimed to have brought the car home from Jakoba on Thursday, the day he went missing.
This enraged other taxi drivers as they started demanding answers and dragged Masole to the police station.
On November 16, One Motlhabakgomo, the 19-year-old girl of Lekgwapheng ward, was also reported missing. Weeks passed by with residents looking for Jakoba and Moruakgomo until on November 21, when Jakoba’s badly decomposed remains were discovered by children playing in an old, abandoned and dilapidated house at Mosinki lands with some body parts missing.
Then, the enraged villagers who were attending his funeral went mad burning structures in the village to a point of burning a pastor’s house and cemeteries.
As a crime reporter I developed interest in covering this story.
I visited Molepolole following the riots and on arrival, the residents’ anger was still evident as I found the riotous mob’s footprints all over the village with burnt tyres and ashes.
That angry mob had the previous night barricaded the main roads with burning tyres blocking traffic in and out of the village. Then, Molepolole went on a standstill as villagers demanded answers from the police and the village leadership accusing them of not giving the cases the attention it deserved especially following the discovery of Jakoba’s remains with his body parts allegedly missing.
Jakoba’s murder left the whole nation reeling in shock and calling for a solution to these cases. Sharing their concerns across social media platforms, Batswana called for an urgent and permanent solution to these killings and challenged the police to be not taking the cases seriously in ensuring that at least missing people were found alive.
I could see that fed up villagers could no longer bottle themselves anymore as they went to the streets without fear doing whatever they could muster to force the police and village leadership to react.
I followed residents and members of the public’s comments on social media on the matter and the majority of them accused the village leadership of having a hand in Jakoba’s suspected ritual murder. Irate members of the public are of the view that the village leadership has been quiet for years as people went missing in the village some of which to date have not been found and their families are yet to find closure.
Dubbed the country’s crime capital city, Molepolole has never experienced quietness as it has been the talk of town. Across social media platforms, the public views Molepolole as a dangerous place with a hive of criminal activities. Every year the police record high numbers of people who go missing of which most of the people are found dead and suspected to have been killed.
Molepolole residents are of the view that these cases mainly spiral out of control towards the General Election. Residents claim some politicians use people’s body parts for rituals to strengthen themselves ahead of elections, accusations that are yet to be proven.
There were reports that the enraged rioters were planning to burn the village Kgosi’s residence but the police responded in time. I could hear villagers murmuring amongst themselves that the village leadership caused the riots by failing to address the matter.
From the interviews, villagers were not happy that ever since Jakoba and Motlhabakgomo went missing, the village leadership failed to call a kgotla meeting to address the matters.
Some even felt the leadership’s reluctance on the matter fuelled the riots as villagers ended up taking the law into their own hands. It is, however, apparent that it takes a village leadership to stabilise a village that has been on the edge like Molepolole.