Cape Town - A drug addicted Cape Town teenager whose mother had chained him to a wall in a desperate bid to stop him from stealing has been found murdered.
According to the family of Asanda Manono, the 19-year-old was killed by members of his family and a community in the Eastern Cape after he was accused of stealing and selling a relative's clothes.
Asanda’s family in Cape Town said he was taken to a container at night where he was assaulted until he died.
Police said his body was found lying in an open veld in Mkaphusi Location, Lady Frere Monday night.
Eastern Cape police spokesperson Colonel Sibongile Soci said a case of murder had been opened.
“The circumstances surrounding the murder of a 19-year-old man whose lifeless was found in an open veld at Mkaphusi Location, Lady Frere on Monday night, December 28, 2020, forms part of the investigation.
“It is alleged that police were summoned by the community members about the body of the deceased lying in an open veld. On arrival, police discovered the bruised body,” Soci said.
Earlier this year, the Cape Times reported how in a desperate measure to ensure that her son stayed out of trouble, Buyiswa Manono, from Brown’s Farm, near Philippi, had chained him up.
The mother told how Asanda would steal anything of value, including household items from his home, or even from neighbours, to sell to feed his addiction.
Manono said she had to ask her brother to keep her microwave, TV set and other electrical appliances at night when she was working a night shift, fearing Asanda would steal and sell them.
The teen had survived several vigilante attacks, including when his mother and neighbours had to beg for his life after four armed men stormed her house, wanting to kill Asanda.
Manono pleaded with them not to kill him, and paid the R900 he was accused of stealing.
“After selling all his clothes, he sold his brother’s, my Tupperware and my other belongings. He also went to Ramaphosa Informal settlement and stole R900.
“Four old men came here armed and wanted to kill him. He was sitting here drunk and didn’t even know what was happening. I had to make a loan at work to pay these men,” said Manono.
“If he was a rat, I would have killed him. If he was a rat, I would have gone to Nyanga bus terminus to buy rat poison to feed him,” she said.
At the time, Asanda said he was willing to go to rehab and start a new life in a different environment.
“I have made promises about changing and telling her about my dreams. If I can get help now, then when I come back maybe from any place of help, I can speak to my mother about my behaviour,” he said.
Social Development MEC Sharna Fernandez then intervened and placed him in rehab.
But after escaping from rehab numerous times, his family decided to send him to the Eastern Cape hoping he would change his ways.
On Tuesday his heartbroken mother said: “After all the efforts I have made to change my son's life, to lose him this way is just terrible. It's even painful to know that some members of the family were involved in his death.”
Police have appealed to anyone who can assist the police investigation with any information that can lead to the arrest of the suspect/s to please contact Lt Colonel Sizwe Mazwi at 082 441 8358.
Information can also be shared on SAPS Crime Stop 086 001 0111. All shared information will be treated with confidentiality, and callers may remain anonymous if they wish to.
IOL with additional reporting by the Daily Voice