Did he do it?

By Maanda Bele and Elmon Tshikhudo

The news of Lindelani Nengovhela’s death spread like the proverbial wildfire through Vhembe and the rest of the country on Saturday morning: “Did you hear? SABC Livhu’s wife was found dead in a ditch this

Even though the news of the death of the 32-year-old Mia Muofhe (as she was better known in social-meshock, many did not find this totally unexpected.

The couple had had a tumultuous relationship, with frequent allegations that the controversial comedian had assaulted and abused

She was the wife (or girlfriend, because many believe they were never truly married) of Livhuwani Madadzhe (38). He became known for his comedy sketches and ran several very successful social-media pages. One of these, Captain SABC Livhu Online TV, amassed more than 127 000 followers on Facebook

But Livhu also made the headlines for the wrong reasons. As far back as November 2020, he had to spend a weekend in jail for driving with illegal flashing lights on his car and not stopping when confronted by law enforcers. Prior to that, he was accused of faking his own mother’s death and even erecting a tombstone for her.

In August 2021, however, he earned the wrath of gender-based activists when his wife resorted to social media to expose his abusive behaviour. She alleged that Livhu had beaten her up “like a snake found in a house”. After this outburst, the dust seemingly settled, and the couple continued the relationship, with Livhu trying hard to portray himself as a big benefactor, helping homeless people to obtain houses and doing philanthropic work.

In November last year, Lindelani pressed charges and Madadzhe was arrested. He spent the night in jail but was released again while the case proceeded. Early in January this year, Limpopo Mirror contacted Livhu to follow up on a story that he had posted on social media. He explained to the reporter how he was the target of jealous people and he ascribed many of the bad things that had happened to him (such as a snake being found inside his home) as the result of this envy. When Livhu was asked about the assault case, he said the charges will be dropped as they (he and Lindelani) had reconciled.

(Continues on page 2)

A party out of control?

Shortly after news broke of the death of Lindelani Nengovhela, Limpopo Mirror visited the scene where her body was found.

The scene was intact, with only a bottle of liquor and a shoe believed to be that of the late Nengovhela in the water-filled ditch.

Lots of empty liquor bottles were lying around near the house, showing that a wild party had taken place. Leftovers of liquor were strewn all over in the new two-room house that Livhu had recently built.

During the visit, a heated

“Don’t be fooled by the laughter”

By Maanda Bele and Elmon Tshikhudo

“Don’t be fooled by the pictures, Livhu and Linde hated each other,” said a close friend when asked about the relationship between Livhu and Lindelani. The source did not want to be named, stating fear of her safety as reason.

“Those two were like cat and dog. They were always fighting. Don’t be fooled by their pictures, those are fake smiles. SABC Livhu abused his wife physically and emotionally. Everything that she said in that video was true. Livhuwani is heartless.”

The source said that the reason Vho-Hilda (an musician friend of the couple) was staying at Livhu’s place was because there was a new-born baby and Vho-Hilda had to take care of the little one.

“Livhuwani has another girlfriend who has a little baby. He is engaged to her. He proposed to her in front of his wife at the hospital after she gave birth. The two-room house that was built on the side of his house is for that girl. She was supposed to be staying in that house in the same yard as Mme a Muofhe. My friend was depressed during her last days. She was even taking drugs, so that she can forget the pain she was going through. She said he once brought the new girlfriend home and asked her to come watch them have sex, so that she can learn some styles,” she said.

She said if Livhuwani had indeed killed his wife, he had not acted alone.

“Livhuwani uses only one hand. The other has a problem on the thumb and he cannot carry things well. If he did it, I doubt he acted alone. Someone must have helped him.” she added.

Another close friend of the couple, Fhulu Mommy Manngo, confirmed that they had been having serious relationship problems for a long time. Manngo said even though the couple looked happy in their Facebook pictures, a lot was happening behind closed doors.

“I was once attacked on social media because I advised Linde to leave Livhu. People called me names and accused me of being jealous of their relationship. They used to call me all the time when they had a fight, and I would go there and advise Linde to pack her bags and leave, because a man who beats women never changes,” she said.

Manngo said at one time she had even rented a room for Linde in Muledane, because

Livhu had not wanted her in his house. “It was in January last year when they (Livhuwani and Lindelani) came to my office and they told me that they don’t want to live with each other anymore. I took a bakkie and went to Ha-Sidou with Linde and my brother. We took all her belongings and went on to rent a room. I was willing to give her a job at my day-care centre. She didn’t even stay for a week in that room and went back to Livhu. I tried helping her, but she was blinded by love or something. There was this other time where I found bruises on her and told her to leave, but she refused and told me she worked hard to make her house a home and she just can’t leave like that,” she said.

Manngo is also the founder of the Mommy Fhulu Foundation that stands up for disadvantaged women and children and fights drug abuse.

“Towards the end of last year (November) Linde came to me saying that she wanted money to start a business and stand up for herself. I was happy thinking that she finally saw the light. In my foundation, we give women money to start businesses and fend for themselves, so I took R2 000 and we went to buy things for her business. She never came back. I still have the things with me here. I saw her on Friday at court and asked her about the business, but she told me that she and Livhu had fixed their problems. I am hurt because I tried several times to help her.” meeting between the family of Livhuwani Madadzhe and the Nengovhela family was in session. The families were mum about the incident, with little information being made available.

Manngo said she always advised women to leave abusive relationships.

The women who had allegedly partied with Livhu and Nengovhela the previous night were nowhere to be found. Even the police remained mum about the situation, not willing to reveal how they linked Madadzhe to the murder. This will be divulged at a later stage, they said.

This has left the community with many unanswered questions.

How did Mia Muofhe die?

One of the most pressing questions asked the past few days is how exactly Lindelani Nengovhela had died.

With a history of alleged abuse hanging over SABC Livhu’s head, the public opinion seems to be that he should be the main suspect. Many also seem to believe that Livhu was in the habit of beating a woman but not necessarily with the intention to kill her.

“Livhu beat the woman [Lindelani] as he was used to beating her and the woman unfortunately accidentally passed on. He was left with no option but to carry the body and dump it in the water-filled ditch to fake a drowning,” said a source close to the family that preferred to remain anonymous.

“Livhu is capable of anything, and this is murder. It was not the first time the woman went missing and why in this instance did he report her missing to police within that short space of time? He knows about this and he must rot in jail,” he said.

Another source said he believed everything had been planned. “We are all anxious to know what had

MAKHADO CARE GROUP IS A NON PROFIT ORGANISATION WHICH ASSISTS WITH THE CARE OF CANCER PATIENTS IN THE MAKHADO AREA

CONTACT DETAILS:

Dr Casper Venter: 082 857 0022

Dr Emil Gaigher: 082 892 8862

Jernay Mcleod: 086 403 5752

Angela Brennan: 082 902 6271 happened to Mia Muofhe, but by the look of things, Livhu planned the whole thing. The liquor that Linde drank could have been spiked. What about the cameras that he always boasted about? If they were on, you will find that they were tampered with. Livhu must just confess and not waste the court’s time,” he said.