Occult Unit called in as 14-year-old Lukhona Fose found mutilated in suspected ritual killing

The specialised occult unit of the South African Police Service (SAPS) has been roped in to probe the brutal murder of Roodepoort teenager Lukhona Fose, whose mutilated body was discovered on Sunday.

The 14-year-old Grade 8 learner at Ikusasalethu Secondary School in Braamfischerville, Joburg apparently lived with her grandmother, who could not find her on Saturday. Her butchered body was found in an open field, covered with vegetation around Durban Deep, in Roodepoort, Gauteng.

Deputy Minister of Police, Dr Polly Boshielo, said the girl’s genitalia was removed by the killers.

“It cannot be business as usual when women are attacked and killed on a weekly basis. It cannot be normal when a 14-year-old girl’s private part is mutilated and removed,” Boshielo said.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the SAPS occult unit has been roped in to investigate this matter. The SAPS occult unit is responsible for investigating all cases where body parts are removed from victims for various reasons including a hate crime or muthi crime.

“There are two possibilities. It could be Lukhona was targeted for her sexuality - making it a hate crime or her body parts were mutilated for muthi purposes. Our investigations are ongoing and maximum resources have been roped in to find those that are behind the killing of this young woman,” she said.

IOL contacted renowned criminologist, Prof Kholofelo Rakubu who is the Head of Department at Tshwane University of Technology’s Department of Law, Safety and Security Management, regarding the graphic nature of crime in South Africa, which often targets children.

“There are signs of an occult crime, which the occult crime investigations unit looks for. When they arrive at the scene, there are projects which tell them that this is an occult case. A body part must be missing, a particular body part is taken by the perpetrators and normally the perpetrators are not seen. 

“You have not heard of a situation where perpetrators of an occult crime were seen doing it, we hear about it afterwards. That is because they are very professional. They are rational thinkers, they take time to pounce on their unsuspecting victims,” she said.

“To lure them, they take the victims to a designated place, they just do not do the killing at a tavern. They can dump the body somewhere, where it was not killed.”

Rakubu, however, warned that the crime of occultic killers might get confused with psychotic killers.

“Sometimes a mentally disturbed person would do the crime in the same manner. They can kill their girlfriend, cut the body into pieces and keep them in a freezer because they are hearing voices and having psychological issues.”

She said detectives in the occult unit are often well-trained and can be able to separate a psychotic murder and an occult killing.

One characteristic of occult killers is that they are “entrepreneurial,” and they take the body parts or blood to someone who needs them.

Those occult killers will look so normal after transporting the body parts of a 13-year-old and for them it is an exchange.

Rakubu said occult killings can be traced to beliefs, rituals, spiritualism where sacrifices are made to certain deities, or body parts are believed to enhance businesses.

“It is not normally talked about, particular groups believe they have to appease their ancestors in that way. It is culturally transmitted. It is transmitted from one generation to another. Occult crime is generational. It also looks like it is hereditary,” she said.

According to the Institute for Security Studies, the latest police statistics show notable drops in major violent crimes in South Africa when comparing January-March 2025 with the same quarter in 2024. Murder levels decreased by 12.4% to 5 727 murders, or an average of 64 murders per day.

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jonisayi.maromo@iol.co.za

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