“Placed Deliberately”: Limpopo Family Demands Investigation After Finding Python on a Family Grave

• Residents of Ramoadi Section in Sekgopo, Limpopo, were left shaken after a large python was found lying on the grave of the late Wilson Sontaga Sekopana
• The family says the grave had already been vandalised in May 2026 and reported to the local headman, but nothing was done about it
• The deceased's son removed the snake himself and alleges it was placed there deliberately by someone targeting the family

A Limpopo family is calling on police to step in after a python was found on their late father's grave in Ga-Sekgopo. The incident happened on Tuesday, 9 June 2026 at Ramoadi Section in Sekgopo, and was shared on Facebook by Limpopo Chronicle.

Photos showed the large python stretched across the grave of the late Wilson Sontaga Sekopana, who was buried on 11 January 2025. A follow-up video showed his son, Ngwako Sekopana, removing the snake from the gravesite himself.

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Ngwako alleges the snake did not end up there by chance. He said:

"The snake, which was placed deliberately on the grave, is part of attempts by unknown individuals to target my family using my deceased father's name."

The family also revealed that the grave had been vandalised as far back as May 2026. They reported it to the local headman at the time, but no action was taken.

Now, with the snake discovery, they are pushing for a formal police investigation and fear the remains may have been disturbed.

Snakes and African spirituality

In many African spiritual traditions, snakes carry meaning and are not automatically seen as a bad omen. Johannesburg-based traditional healer Mkhulu Thamsanqa explained that snakes are spiritual animals, and ancestors can sometimes manifest in the form of snakes in dreams or visions. In certain cultural practices, a snake found near a grave may be interpreted as an ancestral presence rather than something sinister.

Traditional healer Gogo Dineo Ndlanzi has said it is the people who misuse spiritual animals for personal gain that cause harm, not the animals themselves.

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Whether the python found in Ga-Sekgopo was a wild animal or placed there with intent remains to be confirmed. Police have not yet responded publicly to the family's request for an investigation.

Watch the Facebook clip here.

Limpopo community shaken by the python on grave

People had very different takes on what the discovery means and shared how they felt on the Facebook page:

@ClaudiaNkele asked:

"Who found that snake, what was he/she doing there?"

@MmapsMercury said:

"Maybe it was his father's snake. It slept there because it misses the owner, and I'm sure they don't feed it."

@AlexWalls wrote:

"Let's hope it's not sibling rivalry."

@EusteeRaseemela said:

"It looks like someone just dropped it there."

@BruceMangena wrote:

"It's just an innocent snake. Graveyards are loved by snakes because it's a quiet place."

More on snake encounters in South Africa

• Briefly News recently reported on a snake found inside an aeroplane's wheel compartment in Australia.
• A woman driving alone had a snake encounter in her car that she filmed herself, and the way she handled it had many stunned.
• An American who moved to Zimbabwe discovered two of Africa's most dangerous snakes living inside her new home.

Source: Briefly News