The partially burnt and half-naked body of little Siphamandla was found hidden in bushes on Monday afternoon, November 4, in the informal settlement, a day after he went missing.
His parents realised that their son has gone missing on Sunday, just after sunset.
Apparently he was kidnapped by an unknown man, who had approached him while he was playing with friends in the neighbourhood.
“This is shocking. As a parent myself I cannot even begin to think what the parents are going through right now. In fact, as I got the gory details of the incident, I felt shivers going down my spine wondering how another person can carry out such a brutal attack on a helpless boy,” says Gungubele, in a statement issued by the mayoral spokesman Zweli Dlamini.
“What is this world coming to? Less than a month ago the country was grieving the killing of four toddlers – two in Diepsloot and another two in Zonk’zizwe. Now another child is killed in Ramaphosa. This cannot be allowed to go onm” says Gungubele.
Gungubele appeals to the police to pull all stops and find the perpetrator(s) of Siphamandla’s killing as soon as possible.
“I have all the confidence in our police service that they will break this case, just like they did in Diepsloot and Zonke. However, their success heavily relies on the cooperation they receive from members of the community.”
Gungubele further appealed to parents to be more vigilant when it comes to the whereabouts of their children.
“Let us educate our children to avoid talking to strangers. We must make sure that they must always be within our proximity.”
