Sindane made headlines in 2003 when he alleged that he was a white boy who had been kidnapped by black people.

HAPPY Sindane was found dead in Tweefontein, Mpumalanga police said yesterday.

"It seems as if he was stoned to death," Captain Leonard Hlathi said.

The motive for the killing was not known. No arrests had been made.

Sindane made headlines in 2003 when he alleged that he was a white boy who had been kidnapped by black people.

After a four-month inquiry to establish his true identity, the Bronkhorstspruit Children's Court found in September 2003 that Sindane's real name was Abbey Mzayiya, the son of a domestic worker, Rina Mzayiya. The court found his father was probably a white man, Henry Nick, who employed Mzayiya in 1984.

Sindane was born that year.

The whereabouts of both were unknown.

In 2004 Sindane was run over by a minibus and a car, but survived.

When the accident occurred, Sindane was lying in the road outside the Sinzanani Trust Village place of safety in Bronkhorstspruit, where he lived. It was not known why he was lying in the road.