Mlungisi Zuma‚ the man accused of beheading 11-year-old Andile Fihla and dumping his body in a field‚ appeared briefly in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.

Zuma‚ 29‚ faces charges of murder‚ kidnapping and assault.

He cut a stoic figure in the dock‚ sitting expressionless amid a bustling courtroom.

The decomposed remains of Fihla were found on the outskirts of Pietermaritzburg on Tuesday‚ bringing a 12-day search for the boy to an end.

They boy vanished while walking to school with his sister on November 9.

It is understood that Zuma had handed himself over to police before leading them to the burial site.

Police spokesperson Col Thembeka Mbele said Zuma had guided police to Fihla’s severed head.

"He led us to a forest area behind Bluebell Drive in Northdale‚ where officers found the boy’s head in a plastic packet‚ wrapped in clothes and hidden under a pile of rocks‚" she said. “The police proceeded to another area‚ where the decomposed body of the boy was found."

Zuma was remanded in custody and will appear again on November 30 for a formal bail application.