LITTLE children played on Saturday near a large rubbish bin that, unbeknown to them, contained the decomposing body of their elder cousin.
A few metres away, at the home in Jabavu, Soweto, adults sat outside and enjoyed the midday sun while anticipating the big Soweto derby as they waited for it to kick off.
About a week earlier 12-year-old Mthokozisi Mdanda had gone missing after being sent to the shops to buy eggs. He was last seen at about 3.30pm.
"Last Sunday I was driving past the house and stopped when I saw him," his father, a 47-year-old taxi driver Themba Sibeko, said.
"I asked if he was alright and he said he was well. I then drove off." That was the last time he saw his son alive.
On Saturday, just after the game between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, Sibeko was led to the rubbish bin by a strange smell while he was looking for curtains he had washed and wanted to hang up in his outside room.
That smell was his son's decomposing body in the rubbish bin in the dingy garage, the shaken father said yesterday.
Mthokozisi's biological mother passed away when he was about four years old. He was a Grade 5 pupil at Emisebeni Primary School.
"I think a lot about the times he would jump on me unexpectedly and want us to wrestle. I loved my boy," Sibeko said.
"We were searching for the child until yesterday evening," Soweto police spokesman Warrant Officer Kay Makhubele said.
He said Mthokozisi went missing last Sunday night. His family informed the police on Monday.
He said Sekeko found the boy's body facing down in the dustbin. The body had started decomposing.
The cause of death was still unknown.
"We have opened an inquest and we are investigating every angle because we don't know what transpired," Makhubele said.
He described the incident as very strange.
- moengk@sowetan.co.za
Boy's body found in rubbish bin at his home
LITTLE children played on Saturday near a large rubbish bin that, unbeknown to them, contained the decomposing body of their elder cousin.
A few metres away, at the home in Jabavu, Soweto, adults sat outside and enjoyed the midday sun while anticipating the big Soweto derby as they waited for it to kick off.
About a week earlier 12-year-old Mthokozisi Mdanda had gone missing after being sent to the shops to buy eggs. He was last seen at about 3.30pm.
"Last Sunday I was driving past the house and stopped when I saw him," his father, a 47-year-old taxi driver Themba Sibeko, said.
"I asked if he was alright and he said he was well. I then drove off." That was the last time he saw his son alive.
On Saturday, just after the game between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, Sibeko was led to the rubbish bin by a strange smell while he was looking for curtains he had washed and wanted to hang up in his outside room.
That smell was his son's decomposing body in the rubbish bin in the dingy garage, the shaken father said yesterday.
Mthokozisi's biological mother passed away when he was about four years old. He was a Grade 5 pupil at Emisebeni Primary School.
"I think a lot about the times he would jump on me unexpectedly and want us to wrestle. I loved my boy," Sibeko said.
"We were searching for the child until yesterday evening," Soweto police spokesman Warrant Officer Kay Makhubele said.
He said Mthokozisi went missing last Sunday night. His family informed the police on Monday.
He said Sekeko found the boy's body facing down in the dustbin. The body had started decomposing.
The cause of death was still unknown.
"We have opened an inquest and we are investigating every angle because we don't know what transpired," Makhubele said.
He described the incident as very strange.
- moengk@sowetan.co.za
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending
Latest Videos