Durban - The body of an unknown man was found floating in a canal in Newlands East on Wednesday.
The circumstances surrounding the incident are being investigated by the police.
Newlands Community Policing Forum chairperson, Dr Thomas Jafta, said the bush next to the canal made it easy for people to commit crime there.
“We will make sure that my team and I clear the canal, so that it will not be easy for people to dump bodies there,” said Jafta.
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson, Captain Nqobile Gwala, said the dead man, who was found in the canal in Inanda Road, appeared to be in his thirties.
In another incident, the body of 18-year-old Lwandile Tenza, a Grade11 pupil at Ibisi Secondary School in Umzimkhulu, was found in a dam by the search-and-rescue police.
He had been missing for two weeks.
According to his aunt, Nomaxabiso Tenza, Lwandile and a group of friends went to a party and on their way back home, a group of boys tried to rob them of their cellphones.
“His friends managed to escape, but Lwandile stayed behind,” she said.
He was missing from that day up until one of the boys confessed to the police that they had killed him and thrown his body into the dam.
“The holidays were very painful because the whole family could not enjoy the holidays,” his aunt said.
He was described as a friendly, good person, who loved interacting with other people and cooking.
Gwala said charges of murder and robbery were being investigated.
“It’s alleged that the victim was assaulted and robbed of his cellphone on December 21 and went missing. His body was found floating at Mzimkulwana Dam on December 31,” Gwala confirmed.
She said five suspects, aged between 22 and 30, were arrested, and they were due to appear in the Umzimkhulu Magistrate’s Court soon.