Cape Town - A father has admitted to cops that he buried his 14-month-old son alive.
Zolani Malanga, 32, has told police that he cooked a meal for his son Zondre, before digging a hole under his bed inside his shack last Wednesday.
When the little boy was done eating, Malanga allegedly put him in the hole, placed a pillow over him and began covering the child with sand.
A relative rushed into the shack to find Malanga calmly lying on his bed.
Within minutes, the dad dug up his own son from under his bed but the boy was already dead.
The Bellville Magistrates’ Court heard the chilling revelation on Monday, prompting even hardened police officers to whisper: “That man is evil.”
Malanga made his first court appearance on Monday where he faces a charge of murder for the death of Zondre Parks, his own son.
He is expected to begin his bid for bail later this month.
Prosecutors revealed Malanga admitted his crime to police in a statement last week, soon after his arrest on Thursday.
Dressed in a hooded jacket and beige pants, Malanga appeared nervous as he stepped into the dock and kept his hands in his pockets.
He listened attentively as State Prosecutor S Mhcana give a blow-by-blow account of how little Zondre’s life came to a tragic end inside his shack in Botterboom Street, Delft-South, last Wednesday.
The suspect is alleged to have gone to Zondre’s mother’s home where he found the boy playing.
“There were three children playing and one of them was his child, he took the child,” said the prosecutor.
She told the court Malanga took the boy home and prepared him his final meal.
“He cooked for the both of them,” she said.
“He then moved his bed and began digging a hole. He took the child and while he was still alive, he placed him into the hole and put a pillow over him.
“He buried the child alive.”
Malanga then claims he moved his bed back into position to cover the buried boy and he lay down on the bed while his son breathed his last in a sandy grave beneath him.
“When his uncle came [into the shack], he [Malanga] was lying on the bed,” Mhcana added.
“He told his uncle that he had murdered the child.
“And when he moved the bed and dug open the grave, by then the child was already dead.”
It is estimated Zondre was buried for about 20 minutes before the relative entered the room and confronted Malanga.
“When police found the child, he was dead,” Mhcana told the court.
She stressed Malanga is facing a serious offence which should be heard in the Western Cape High Court. And that little Zondre’s post-mortem is still outstanding.
“A profile of the accused has to be done. This will be in the High Court,” she added.
Mhcana concluded by stating that Malanga had admitted guilt to police.
“He confessed to police in a statement. The case will be remanded for bail information,” she said.
Malanga was not asked to plead.
But while Malanga awaits his fate, his former lover and Zondre’s mom Nadia Parks, 35, is battling to bury her son and come to terms with his death.
“There has been no finance from his [Malanga’s] family to bury Zondre,” said the single mother of five.
“Everything is still unclear... It cannot be true,” she said of Zondre’s shocking death.
Nadia told the Daily Voice of how she ended her rocky relationship with Malanga on the morning before the tragedy happened.
And how Malanga had collected Zondre for a visit to a nearby tuck shop but never returned.
She explained that her other children are also struggling to come to terms with Zondre’s death.
“My daughter Keron, 13, started high school today and she was so emotional, she couldn’t concentrate,” she said.
“She always looked after Zondre when I had to go somewhere and they were very close.
“My four-year-old son looks for his baby brother every morning because he used to wake Zondre up first.”
Daily Voice