Staff Reporter
A 22-year-old man has been sentenced to 24 years’ imprisonment by the Ficksburg Magistrates Court after he was found guilty of murder and dismembering a corpse in order to extract and sell body parts.
The court found Mdaki Joseph Tladi guilty of premeditated murder when judgment was delivered on Tuesday.
He was also declared unfit to possess a firearm.
According to Free State police, the body of Pius Maqala Tshabalala was found by community members on the outskirts of Zone 7 in Meqheleng township, Ficksburg, on June 30, 2018.
The body had stab wounds, the throat was slit and some body parts were missing.
A police officer in the town, Detective Sergeant Mohlomi Mofolo, received information about a man that was seen selling human body parts.
But before the police could act, the suspect was reported to have crossed the Caledon River illegally into Lesotho where it’s believed he had a prospective human body parts dealer.
A year later, Mofolo received information that the suspect had returned and was visiting his mother in Zone 6 and managed to arrest and detain him.
He was remanded in custody until the matter was finalised.
Meanwhile, police have identified the victim of a recent gruesome murder in Kroonstad – who was also found with missing body parts – as Kevin Charles Teboho Ramatli aged 16.
He was identified by his mother.
A post-mortem revealed that the victim sustained multiple injuries on the chest which could be the cause of death.
It also confirmed that vital organs had been removed from the body.
The body of Ramatli was discovered by two men on Sunday morning in an open veld between Brentpark and Kroonstad industrial area near the old power station.
The two men told police they were looking for firewood when they discovered a shallow grave.
They said they were walking along the railway line when they saw tree branches on the ground.
When they got close to the branches, they realised the soil underneath was soft.
Upon removing the branches and the soil, they found two plastic bags. They then saw a human hand protruding from the ground.
The body was eventually exhumed the following day by the police.
It had an injury to the forehead and a cut on the stomach.
The heart and genitals were missing.
A sharp instrument allegedly used to cut the body and sticks were found in the shallow grave.
No one has been arrested in connection with the killing and anyone with information that could assist the investigation may contact Kroonstad SAPS Detective Service Commander Colonel Mabuti Moreholo on 082 372 1436.