Cape Town - A body of a man who had been beheaded was found buried in the bushes in Eersteriver over the weekend.
The headless body was found by a group of people passing Devon Park in Kleinvlei on Saturday at around 10.30am.
The man was believed to be around 30 and had a tattoo with the number 26 on his chest.
According to police spokesman Colonel Tembinkosi Kinana the motive was not known. A murder case had been opened and no arrests have been made.
A woman, who declined to be named, but was one of the first people to arrive at the scene said the body was covered in a brown car seat cover.
She said residents could not identify the body because of the missing head.
“He was fair-skinned and had a tattoo with the number 26 written on his chest.”
She said the Kleinvlei bush was a dangerous area commonly used by gang members for gambling.
In the same bushy area on Friday, firefighters rescued a 1-year-old baby trapped in a veld fire.
The city’s Disaster Risk Management spokesman Wilfred Solomons-Johannes confirmed that a huge fire had spread in Devon Park at around 4.35pm on Friday. He said firefighters had found a 1-year-old baby dumped in the bushes. The baby escaped the fire unharmed and was handed to the police.
Solomons-Johannes said the circumstances of the fire and the abandonment of the infant were being investigated.
Meanwhile, a resident, who declined to be named, said she heard noises coming from the bushes at around 3am on Friday morning.
“I heard a huge bang coming from the side of the bushes, but thought it must be people making wood. I didn’t take it seriously.”
The resident said the baby’s parents were known by residents.
“The mother used to live at the Thembalethu squatter camp, but she lost her home and moved to living in the bushes.”
At the time of the fire, the baby’s parents could not be located.
Cape Argus