On Saturday afternoon, eight-year-old Siyabonga Mkhwanazi ran out of his Emndeni, Soweto, home, saying he was rushing to greet his father hooting at the gate. That was the last time he was seen alive.
Three days later, the boy's body was retrieved from a manhole four houses away.
Although the child lives in a very busy street, nobody seems to have seen what happened to him. And it is not yet known if, indeed, there was a car at the gate because his father Mduduzi Mkhwanazi said he was nowhere near the vicinity of the house at the time his son ran out of the house.
It is also not known how Siyabonga ended up in the manhole.
While some residents believe there was no foul play, and Siyabonga could have fallen into the manhole by accident the same afternoon he went missing, Mkhwanazi believes someone killed him and threw the body down the manhole.
“His body looked fresh, his clothes weren’t torn, and there were no scratches. Nothing showed that he had been there since Saturday," he said.
Gauteng police spokesperson Col Mavela Masondo said on Wednesday that an inquest docket had been opened.
“He had no visible injuries, but police are waiting for post-mortem [results] to determine the cause of death,” he said.
Mkhwanazi, who works as an e-hailing driver, said the information he received was that his son had rushed outside after hearing a car hooter, thinking it was him returning from work.
When he returned home later without Siyabonga, the family realised the child was missing. A desperate search followed, with family members and residents combing the area. The searches continued on Sunday and Monday but yielded no results.
On Tuesday afternoon, a resident advised the family to check a covered drainage hole near the house. The hole had been secured with a board and bricks, making it unlikely anyone would suspect a child had fallen in.
To their horror, police found Siyabonga’s body inside. “When I came to identify the body, I fainted. I never thought we would lose him like this,” Mkhwanazi said.
Kate Booi, chairperson of the school governing body where Siyabonga was a pupil, said she participated in the search and was devastated by the outcome.
“This boy knew about the manhole, and it was always covered. We suspect someone may have panicked and placed him there on Monday night after we announced we will be doing door-to-door searches on Tuesday,” Booi said.
His body looked fresh, his clothes weren’t torn, and there were no scratches. Nothing showed that he had been there since Saturday
— Residents
She criticised the municipality for only responding after the tragedy. “This drainage hole should have been reported and closed long ago. Now that someone has died, they’re acting like they care. They only sealed it off on Tuesday night,” she said angrily.
Some residents, however, believe there was no foul play, and that what happened was a tragic accident.
Resident Sphiwe Nkomonde said Siyabonga often bought from a tuck shop nearby and might have accidentally fallen into the uncovered drainage while running.
“I don’t think someone did this to him, it could have been a horrible accident,” he said.
When Sowetan went to the area on Wednesday, the manhole was covered with a concrete slab.
Asked why the manhole had been left uncovered all along, City of Joburg spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane said other departments still needed to be contacted to be able to comment.
SowetanLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.