Masoka Dube

Masoka Dube

A cattle herder has found human bones believed to be those of a farmworker who disappeared last month at the Mount Olive farm, Barberton, Mpumalanga.

The missing man took his cattle out to the veld for grazing but didn't return home.

Police have said they can't divulge his name because they must first locate his family.

Barberton police spokesman Constable Jabulile Ndubane said the man's friends became suspicious when he went out to herd his cattle but did not return.

"They launched a search for him, but in vain. They didn't report the matter to us until the cattle herder discovered the bones, now suspected of being the victim's," Ndubane said yesterday.

Ndubane said the victim's clothes were found next to the scene where the bones were discovered on Sunday afternoon.

Police said the man might have committed suicide because some of his clothes had been twisted and knotted.

"We don't know who his relatives are and we are appealing to the community to come forward with information that will help us trace them," said Ndubane.

She said the victim's friends at the farm said they found it hard to believe that he might have committed suicide.

This is the second time that human bones have been found in the bush in this part of the country. Recently bones belonging to July Marimane were found in the nearby Kruger National Park.