Cape Town – The last time four-year-old Iyapha Yamile’s parents saw her alive was when she arrived home from church on Sunday. Hours later, her father Danile Ngongoshe, 45, was called to identify her body, found in a plastic bag, a stone’s throw from her aunt’s home.
Iyapha lived at the SST informal settlement in Khayelitsha, where 19-year-old Sinoxolo Mafevuka was brutally murdered last March.
Mafevuka’s half-naked body was dumped in a communal toilet. Iyapha’s murder occurred a day after Khayelitsha residents were commemorating a year since the murder of 21-year-old Anelisa Dulaze.
Dulaze, a Rhodes University student, was found buried in a half-built house in Makhaza, Khayelitsha, on May 1, 2016.
Iyapha had visited her aunt in the neighbouring section, Zone 14, when she went missing. According to Ngongoshe, she had gone to play with some friends.
It was only after the other children returned home that her family noticed she had gone missing.
The alarm was raised and a search was launched.
Shocked residents on Monday woke up to the grim discovery of the body they had been looking for throughout the night.
Police said they were questioning a suspect in his 20s following the discovery.
A murder docket has been opened at the Lingelethu SAPS for investigation by the Khayelitsha Family, Child and Sexual Offences Protection Unit (FCS).
“It’s her. She is still wearing the dress she loved so much. It has bloodstains and they are suspecting she may have been raped. There are no signs suggesting that she was assaulted,” said Ngongoshe.
According to Ngongoshe, his daughter had been found by a neighbour who had gone to a toilet and noticed a plastic bag with blood.
“It’s difficult to accept the fact that your child is missing. How much more when you hear that she is no more. She was here, visiting her aunt.
“She had gone to church with her mother. They went to play with friends and she did not return when the others did.
“It was then her aunt started asking around. The other kids said she had gone to play elsewhere. It was around 6pm when she did not return.
“We could not sleep knowing that our child may not be safe. During the early hours we received a call. We had left this area around 1am. We had given up for the day.
“The information we have now is that she was playing at a house suspected of being involved in the selling of tik and there is a lot of people going in and out of the house.
Mother Sindiswa Yamile, father Dan Ngongoshe and sister Ninobom. Picture: Phando JikeloANA Pictures
“I am aware that someone has been taken in by the police (for questioning).
“She was dumped here. When I got here she was already covered with a blanket. According to the police, the plastic bag she was found in had blood.”
Ngongoshe said the owner of the house was asked to assist with pointing out where the people who had visited her home stayed. Those efforts proved fruitless.
“I had big dreams for her because you can see she was a bright child who loved pre-school. She had a big memory.
“She would tell you in detail about what they learnt at school that day. You could see a bright future in her. She knew a lot of things.”
The family have urged residents not to take the law into their own hands, as this would interfere with the police investigation.
“There is a suspicion that she and her friend may have been drugged. When her friend was questioned about Iyapha’s whereabouts, she could not remember anything.
“She only told us that they had been playing together and she fell asleep.”
Iyapha would have turned five on June 5.