8 Arrested After North West Community Members Kill Old Woman Accused of Witchcraft

• The South African Police Service arrested eight members of a North West community after an incident of mob attack
• The woman was brutally murdered in Magogong Village in Taung and was accused of being linked to a teenager's disappearance
• The community accused her of witchcraft before killing her and attacking her son, who is now in hospital

Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist in Johannesburg, South Africa, covered criminal activities, police investigations, police shootouts and court cases at Daily Sun for over three years.

NORTH WEST — The South African Police Service arrested eight members of the community after the murder of a gogo who was accused of witchcraft.

8 Arrested for gogo's murder

IOL reported that members of the community allegedly killed the gogo on 22 October 2024 after accusing her of being behind the murder of a 13-year-old teenager. The teenager disappeared, and her body was later discovered. Members of the community linked her murder to witchcraft and singled the elderly woman out.

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Seven men and a woman aged between 29 and 45 were arrested on 25 October and are expected to appear before the Taung Magistrates Court on 28 October. The province's Community Safety MEC, Wessels Morweng, welcomed the arrest and condemned the incident.

SA calls for justice

Netizens on Facebook were shattered by the incident and welcomed the arrest.

Klaus Lubbe said:

"The sad part is once some of these so-called community members reach an elderly stage, they're going to be accused of witchcraft. Youth of North West, be careful of what you do to others today because that will be done to you later in your life."

Nomonde Dolophu said:

"Put them in jail because they are also doing witchcraft."

Teboho King Goodwill Moiketsi said:

"It's hard being a black person."

Court sentences witchcraft murder accused

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In a related article, Briefly News reported that an Eastern Cape court sentenced seven members of a community for killing two women accused of murder.

The group stoned and killed two sisters whom they accused of witchcraft. South Africans welcomed the sentences they received.

Source: Briefly News