Dad confirms dead child is Cuburne

Cuburne van Wyk's body was discovered by a passer-by at a mine dump in Reiger Park.

Cuburne van Wyk's body was discovered by a passer-by at a mine dump in Reiger Park.

Published Aug 12, 2014

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Johannesburg - Gauteng police have confirmed that the body of a child discovered on a mine dump in Reiger Park at the weekend was that of Cuburne van Wyk.

Police spokeswoman Colonel Noxolo Kweza said Cuburne’s father, Elroy Peters, identified the body on Monday.

Kweza said the boy died of multiple head injuries and burn wounds.

“Police investigations into his disappearance, and now his death, are still continuing,” Kweza said.

Three-year-old Cuburne went missing from his uncle’s house in Ramaphosa on Wednesday.

The family were informed that Cuburne was last seen with a suspected drug addict, who allegedly carried him away from his uncle’s house after giving him a biscuit.

Police said they were looking for 25-year-old Katleho Phoku, known as “Chicken”, who they said could assist them in their investigations.

Cuburne’s grandmother, Daphne Fredericks said arrangements were under way for the burial on Saturday.

Fredericks said they were upset by the manner in which the boy was killed.

“It is so painful, you cannot even explain the pain. To see his body in that manner was totally unbelievable. The images have erased all the wonderful pictures of a jolly and active child.

“Every time I think of him, I see those brutal pictures. Can a human being really do that to such a small child?” she asked.

Gauteng Premier David Makhura visited the Van Wyk family on Monday.

He was meeting the Reiger Park community as part of the government’s Gauteng township economy revitalisation programme.

The people of Gauteng needed to wage war on crime to better protect their children, he said.

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