• Five suspects have been arrested for allegedly targeting the family of 23-year-old Maano Maphula who allegedly murdered two women.
• Maphula allegedly murdered the two women because he believed they had bewitched him.
• The suspects face two counts of arson and one of assault.

Five suspects have been arrested for allegedly targeting the family of 23-year-old Maano Maphula who is alleged to have murdered two women because he believed they had bewitched him.

According to police spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo, the five - aged between 23 and 38 - were arrested by officers from Thohoyandou in the early hours of Friday.

It is believed a group of people from Lunungwi allegedly targeted the family of Maphula who reportedly chopped up the bodies of an 88-year-old woman and her 54-year-old daughter.

According to National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi, Maphula allegedly killed the two women with an unknown object and left their bodies in a pool of blood.

On Wednesday, he made his first appearance in the Thohoyandou Magistrate's Court.

"The suspects will face two counts of arson and a case of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm," said Mojapelo.

They will make their first appearance at the Thohoyandou Magistrate's Court on Monday.