Mom still waiting for daughter Gabisile Shabane's body parts
The mother of a murdered 13-year-old girl with albinism spoke of her anguish of not being able to bury her daughter two months after her body was discovered.
Annah Shabane was speaking outside the Emalahleni Magistrate's Court where three of five men accused of kidnapping and murdering her daughter Gabisile Shabane and grandchild 15-month-old Nkosikhona Ngwenya appeared yesterday for their formal bail application.
Thokozani Msibi, Brilliant Mkhize, Themba Thubane and Knowledge Mhlanga allegedly broke into the Shabane household in Hlalanikahle, Mpumalanga on January 28, where they kidnapped and later murdered Gabisile and Nkosikhona.
Msibi was arrested in February and was denied bail in the same court on March 6.
A fifth suspect, Thulani Thobela, turned state witness following his arrest.
"My child and grandchild were found in February but we still haven't been able to bury them because Gabisile's body parts are still missing.
"These men must just tell us what they did with them so we can bury our children. Their spirits are tormented because they can't be laid to rest," Shabane said.
Gabisile's missing body parts include her arms, heart, lungs, uterus, ovaries, all the abdominal organs and the bladder.
Some parts were found at Msibi's home.
In an affidavit drafted by Thobela, he claimed that Gabisile was kidnapped and murdered with the purpose of harvesting her body parts by Msibi, Thubane and Mhlanga.
"We've been coming to court with the hope that this matter would be concluded and that these men would tell us what they did with the body parts," Shabane said.
Gabisile's headless body was found in a shallow grave in Cullinan in February while Nkosikhona's body was found dumped along the N4 highway in Mpumalanga.
Prosecutor Fanie Mavundla said Thubane and Mhlanga were driven by greed.
"They wanted to be rich, your worship. Such was their determination to find a person living with albinism, they went to three provinces [Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo] searching for that person," Mavundla said.
The court also heard that Thubane and Mhlanga mistakenly snatched Nkosikhona as they intended to kidnap Gabisile's toddler cousin, who also has albinism.
"It's in the interest of justice to deny them bail, your worship. We do not know if they will still carry out their initial plan and kidnap the toddler living with albinism," he said.
Magistrate Darleen Venter postponed the matter until April 16 for judgment.