Teacher found dead in her Mmamatipa home with hands tied, Limpopo police hunt 22-year-old for questioning
The 33-year-old Batau High School teacher was found in an advanced state of decomposition after she failed to report for duty and could not be reached on her phone.
A 33-year-old teacher was found dead inside her home in Mashamothane 2, Mmamatipa, in the Tubatse policing area of Limpopo, with her hands tied behind her back with cable ties, police say.
The woman taught at Batau High School. Her body was discovered on Monday, 26 October 2026, and was in an advanced state of decomposition, according to police accounts given over the weekend.
The alarm was raised when she did not report for duty and could not be reached on her cellphone. Concerned colleagues went to her residence at about 11am to check on her, found her body inside the house and alerted the police.
A murder case has been opened. Investigators are working to establish the circumstances of her death and the motive.
As Sunday World reported on 1 November, police have appealed to 22-year-old Tebatso Thabo Phetla to present himself urgently at the nearest police station. Police believe he may be able to assist investigators with information that could help solve the case. He has not been accused of the killing.
Anyone with information about the murder, or about Phetla’s whereabouts, is asked to contact investigating officer Sergeant Mpho Mogale on 076 814 6522, go to their nearest police station, call Crime Stop on 08600 10111 or use the MySAPS App.
For a school community in Tubatse, the death of a colleague in her own home is the kind of loss that settles over a staffroom for a long time. It also lands in a part of the country where police stations cover wide stretches of villages and dirt road, and where the distance between a call for help and a police van arriving is measured in time. Police have not said how long they believe the body had lain in the house before it was found.
Details of the case remain limited to what police have released. The investigation is continuing, and anyone with information that could assist is asked to come forward.
