Police found a full human skeleton in his house - and that he carried around his mother's skull when he went to the bank.

A "grave violation" is under investigation by police in Limpopo.

South African Police Service spokesperson Lt-Colonel Moatshe Ngoepe said on Tuesday that cops in Lebowakgomo outside Polokwane have arrested a man in connection with a grave being dug up at Dithabaneng village in the Ga-Mphahlele area.

"It is alleged that the suspect went to the local cemetery during December 2017 and started digging his mother's grave open." She had been buried in 2001.

The dig continued until he finally exhumed her bones during January 2018 and took them home.

On Monday‚ March 5‚ Ngoepe said members of the community noticed him moving around the village carrying a human skull and immediately summoned the police.

On arrival‚ they found a full human skeleton in the suspect's house and arrested him‚ said Ngoepe.

"The preliminary police investigations have also revealed a lot of cattle bones in the same house and that furthermore the suspect sometimes carries his mother's skull inside the bag when he goes to the shopping centres and banks‚ as he believes that will protect him from any danger."

Ngoepe said the man's motive was still under investigation. He said it was "still not clear at this stage but the police investigations will tell as they are still unfolding".

The suspect will appear before the Lebowakgomo Magistrate's Court soon on a charge of violation of a grave.