The body of two-year-old Kutlwano Shalaba, who went missing in November last year, has been recovered.
A police source confirmed to Sowetan that the child’s body was found in a shallow grave at an abandoned mine near Randfontein, west of Joburg.
The source said a 50-year-old sangoma who operated at the Vereeniging taxi rank has been arrested.
“The traditional healer took officers to where the body was. A postmortem will be conducted at the Carletonville mortuary, but we believe the child died on November 10,” said the source.
Kutlwano, from Boipatong in the Vaal, was reported missing on November 13.
His mother, Keneilwe Shalaba, had reported that Kutlwano was snatched from her by unknown men in a silver-grey vehicle.
However, she was later arrested and charged with human trafficking, conspiracy to commit an offence and making a false statement to the police.
The state alleged that Shalaba sold baby Kutlwano for R75,000, an amount she admitted receiving on the same day her son went missing, though she could not say where it came from.
Shalaba previously alleged she went to Durban with Kutlwano on November 10 to buy clothes to sell.
But police Sgt George Motloung, who testified during her bail application in February, said the child never made it to Durban, adding that he had obtained statements and affidavits from a group of women Shalaba travelled with to KwaZulu-Natal.
He was told that Shalaba had asked those she travelled with to lie, if questioned by police, and say she was with Kutlwano in Durban.
Captain Tintswalo Sibeko confirmed the police made the gruesome discovery in Waterpan Road, near the R28 in Bekkersdal.
“The remains are suspected to be of Kutlwano but a DNA analysis will be performed to determine the identity of the corpse,” she said.
Sibeko said Shalaba and the traditional healer will appear before the Vanderbiljpark magistrate’s court on Monday June 2 to face charges of murder and human trafficking.
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