Satan is behind certain crimes in South Africa, North West human settlements and public safety MEC Nono Maloyi said at a ceremony for two crime victims at the weekend.
“Satan has declared war on the people of South Africa, North West province and Coligny,” he said at the reburial of the remains of Reverend Elias Maretlwa and his daughter Leki, at Tlhabologang sports ground outside Coligny, on Saturday.
The daughter, 23, and father, 61, were murdered, allegedly by his wife, and then buried in the bedroom of the family home.
“Satanism is the only wicked force that leads wives to kill their husbands and children, and for men to rape their own children,” Maloyi told the approximately 400 mourners at the ceremony, according to a statement from her office issued on Sunday.
Two weeks ago, police discovered the National Independent Congregation Church reverend's badly decomposed body, and a skeleton believed to be Leki's, buried in a shallow grave under a bed in the house.
The reverend was reported missing in December, while his daughter disappeared in 2009.
The reverend's wife, and another teenage child, were in police custody awaiting a murder trial in connection with the deaths.
The wife apparently told family members that the father and daughter were in Botswana training as traditional healers. She said the two would return on June 16 this year. When they did not, after repeated questioning from locals, she allegedly revealed the whereabouts of their bodies.
The wife reportedly confessed to burying them in the house, which was regularly used for church services, because she was too poor to afford a funeral. - Sapa