Although it is said that the angry mob mistook him for an ATM thief, questionable circumstances like his identity book being stolen and his car being vandalized, point to other motives for his death.
The fact that a criminal case, one for violating a corpse, was opened by Mr Mahlako’s family this week, underlines the possibility that he was killed because of something more than a matter of mistaken identity.
The docket was opened after it came to light that Mr Mahlako’s sister discovered that his tongue was missing from his corpse when she went to view it at Everest Funerals in Middelburg.
W/o Lize de Witt said that Mr Mahlako’s body was transferred from the Pathology Department to Everest Funerals in Polokwane, where he died, after a postmortem was done.
From there the body was transported to Everest Funerals in Middelburg for Mr Mahlako to be buried in the Mhluzi Cemetary.
The family discovered the absence of the organ after the corpse arrived in Middelburg.
When the Middelburg Observer spoke to the family shortly after Mr Mahlako’s death, his aunt Marlyn Matlala, said that they believed that he was specifically targeted.
The family could not be reached at the time of going to press to find out why they opened the case months after making the grizzly discovery.
Mr Mahlako was a policeman in Mhluzi, he later became a reservist before retiring completely from the police force to become a private investigator.
• During the recent testimony of Mr X in front of the Farlam Commission of Inquiry, he told how the tongue of a security guard, killed at a hostel, was cut out for muti, the striking workers had to lick to make them stronger.
