Four days before she went missing, Nomsa Sambo, 8, received a phone call from her father wishing her a happy birthday and promising to organise a party for her the following week.
Little did her father, James Rasesemola, 47, know it would be the last time he he would speak with his daughter before the resident found her lifeless body in a pit toilet in Senotlelo, near Vaalbank, Mpumalanga, in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brig Selvy Mohlala said Zele Machika, 53, Pauline Maubane, 51 and Thabo Maubane, 32, were stoned to death by angry community members after they discovery of the body.
Machika’s house and two vehicles belonging to Thabo were torched.
Nomsa was reported missing by her family on February 12 after she did not come back home following a visit to her relatives in the area. She lived with her grandmother, aunt, uncle and cousin.
Rasesemola said he was heartbroken by Nomsa’s murder.
“I am sad. Police did not do their work. They had a suspect and released him. Her mother and I were preparing a party [for her] where we invited her friends over and were planning to decorate the place with balloons and celebrate with cake and sweets,’’ said Rasesemola.
Her uncle, Kagiso Sambo, said Nomsa and her eight-year-old cousin had visited their other aunt the day before she went missing. They arrived safely at the aunt’s house and were meant to return home the following day.
“On Sunday [February 12] around 1pm her cousin returned home alone and she did not look fine. I asked her where Nomsa was and why she had come back home alone. She said on their way home a man called them from a house and told them to come fetch a gift to give to their family. She then walked away while Nomsa went into the house,’’ said Sambo.
He said the family then immediately went to the house accompanied by the cousin to inquire about Nomsa’s whereabouts.
“When we arrived there we found a young man [Thabo] and we asked him where our child was and he said he knew nothing about Nomsa. We searched the house and the yard but we did not find her,’’ said Sambo.
He said Machika arrived at the house shortly thereafter and also denied any knowledge of Nomsa’s disappearance.
Mohlala said police received information that a man had allegedly been seen carrying Nomsa into his house.
“Police took the man in for questioning on Monday [February 13]. A kidnapping case was opened. The man denied all the allegations and there was insufficient evidence to charge him then, hence he was released,’’ said Mohlala.
The community found Nomsa's body in Machika’s outside toilet on Saturday morning. They stoned and burnt him along with his girlfriend [Pauline] and her son [Thabo].
Mohlala said police rushed to the scene and found the lifeless bodies of the three in the street. He said four cases of murder were under investigation. No arrests have been made.
On Monday, acting safety and security MEC Speed Mashilo visited the area and told the community that police were looking for the people behind the mob justice, including Nomsa’s killers.
Angry community members said they went to search for Nomsa at Machika's house because her cousin told them she was last seen there.
“A child cannot lie to us. She showed us the house where she [Nomsa] was last seen. We went there and found the child there in the toilet before police did. We did a better job than police,” said one community member.
The community said kidnappings of children were rare in the area, while break-ins and stock theft were rife.
Mashilo said he would arrange for a satellite police station to be opened in the area as the community had suggested.
Machika’s father Alfred Bambo, 79, said his son had not been troublesome. “I am shocked that a child's body was found in his home. He was not capable of killing anyone,” said Bambo.
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