Johannesburg - Soweto community members believe that there is a serial killer on the loose after the bodies of minors were discovered near schools in Rockville and White City, Soweto.
The community, which said it is living in fear, further believes that this might be "muti killings’’ because the bodies of Nqobile Zulu, aged five, and Tshiamo Rabanye, aged six, were mutilated and body parts, including the penis, nose, and lips, are missing.
Nqobile Ndlovu, the grandmother of Tshiamo, could not hold back her tears when talking about her loss.
She said her son recently passed on and left her grandson in her care.
‘’What a tragic loss! I am angry; I have lost my grandson. He is the son of my first-born, who died in 2020. I was consoling myself with this one. I identified him by his clothes. I could not look at him. My sister opened the cover and told me that his throat was slit and his penis is missing,’’ said Ndlovu.
She said they don't know who is behind the killing but believed the perpetrator/s targeted minors because, of late, children go missing, and it is rare to find them alive.
Ndlovu said Tshiamo and Nqobile went missing on Wednesday, and they were playing together.
She said she left her grandson playing, and later, when she returned home, they thought she had left with him.
‘’We went to the home of his friend, who also went missing; they, too, thought the children were with me. That is when we went to the Moroka Police Station to open a missing person case. We went searching together with the police until 3am. Again yesterday morning, we went to search, and while we were at Thokoza Park, I received a call to come to this passage, and indeed, it was him. The body of his friend was discovered in Moroka Dam. He was also killed in a similar way,’’ she said.
According to reports about the friend, Ndlovu said his throat and penis were mutilated; also, his nose and lips were missing.
Another community member threatened that women in the community would take the law into their own hands.
‘’We are tired of dirty people behind these attacks; these are minors. We had hoped that they would grow and work for us one day. What was going through the minds of the perpetrator/s when the children were crying? The Moroka police are not helping much. We as women will handle this ourselves,’’ she said.
It is reported that another boy was also mutilated, but he was rushed to the hospital.
This means that three boys were attacked.
The buildings where forensic personnel combed the scene were next to schools.
The Provincial Commissioner of Police in Gauteng, Lieutenant General Elias Mawela, has mobilised resources following the gruesome murder of two children, aged five and six, in Soweto.
Police confirmed that yesterday morning the lifeless bodies of the minors were found mutilated. One was discovered in White City, while the other was discovered later in Rockville.
Mawela has condemned these gruesome murders in the strongest possible terms.
‘’It is so disheartening and disgraceful to see such little innocent lives being lost in this hideous manner. It cannot be that no one saw or heard nothing. We are appealing to anyone who may have information about this incident to please report to the police,’’ Mawela said.
Meanwhile, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi and Gauteng Education MEC Matome Chiloane will today visit the families of two learners who were allegedly kidnapped and brutally murdered in Soweto.
The Star