Mmukubyane offers travelers interested in history a specifically named site: ko bomong, “place of the bomb.” Residents have called the spot where youth activists Matthews Lerutla and Jeffrey Sibaya were killed by this name ever since the incident. The local history can be divided into two periods: the killings around 16 June 1987 and the rituals in July 2023. These dates are historically connected, but refer to different events.

Ko bomong and the local context

Ko bomong means “place of the bomb.” The name refers to a specific site on the outskirts of Mmukubyane; it is not the name of the entire settlement. This distinction helps separate the local name from the travel destination geographically: ko bomong names the site, while Mmukubyane names the place. If you plan to visit ko bomong specifically, check access in advance.

The events around June 1987

Around 16 June 1987, youth activists Prompana Matthews Lerutla and Jeffrey Sibaya, then 17 and 18 years old, were abducted from Mamelodi and taken to an abandoned site on the outskirts of Mmukubyane. There they were tortured and strangled with a car seat belt. Explosive devices were then attached to their bodies and detonated. The sequence of events runs from the abduction through the killings to the explosion, and explains the connection to the local place name. The date remains “around 16 June 1987”; this does not establish an exact day.

Rituals and repatriation in 2023

On 28 July 2023, Samuel Lerutla and his sister Fonta performed rituals at the site known as ko bomong. The aim was to communicate with Prompana’s spirit and enable his repatriation to Freedom Park and home for burial. This took place 36 years after the killings. It belongs to a later period in the local history and should be distinguished from the events of 1987.

A spiritual repatriation and cleansing ceremony for four deceased Mamelodi activists was also scheduled for 27 July 2023. It was to take place at the sites where they were killed in Kgomo Kgomo, Mmukubyane and Cyferskuil in the Moretele Local Municipality, and was to precede their symbolic burial at Freedom Park. The accounts differ in scope and status: a ceremony at three named sites was planned for 27 July; on 28 July, rituals were performed at the site known as ko bomong to communicate with Prompana’s spirit and enable repatriation. Freedom Park is the shared point of reference: the planned ceremony on 27 July was to precede the symbolic burial there; the rituals on 28 July were intended to enable repatriation there and home.

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