Eighteen people have been arrested since the start of the protests in Relela on charges of public violence, arson and malicious damage to property.

In the Limpopo village where killings and allegations of muti murders have resulted in violence, there is more pain than a need for revenge.

A Limpopo widow whose husband was killed in Relela near Tzaneen says all he wanted was to meet Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema.

Police head Riah Phiyega has been unable to calm the Relela community, who have seen three dead after protests erupted around a gruesome murder.

Police commissioner Riah Phiyega has defended the actions of under-siege police as new killings rock the troubled village of Kubjana near Relela.

The national police commissioner is on her way to a village outside Tzaneen where three protesters have been killed and 15 police officers injured.