When a mother returned home on Wednesday after 5pm, her five-year-old son was not home.
Two hours later, he came running and screaming, gesturing that a man had slit the throats of two of his friends – Nqobizitha Zulu, 5, and Tshiamo Rabanye, 6.
The mother could not believe him – until in the morning when news broke that Nqobizitha and Tshiamo had been brutally murdered in a crime that shocked the community of White City in Soweto.
Gauteng police are investigating cases of murder after the bodies of the two children were found mutilated yesterday morning, one in White City and another in Rockville.
The mother said: “My son told me that two men driving in a blue car grabbed the three of them while they were playing on the street. He said one of the men was fat and the other slender. I do not know how he managed to escape.”
Provincial police spokesperson Col Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi said the two children were reported missing on Wednesday night at Moroka police station and a team consisting of police, search and rescue teams and community members was activated.
Yesterday, dozens of people gathered near a veld in Rockville where Nqobizitha’s lifeless body was found. Tshiamo was found on a street in White City, about 1.5km from where Nqobizitha’s body was found.
The children were last seen playing outside Tshiamo’s home on Langa Street. Nqobizitha stayed on Ramaite Street, less than 100m away.
The scene in Rockville was cordoned off with police tape, while police and forensic pathologists combed the area for evidence.
After forensic pathologists placed little Nqobizitha’s body at the back of their van, his mother Nomthandazo Zulu and grandmother Mapiti Tshabalala asked to view it before it was taken to the mortuary.
Zulu cried hysterically after seeing her son’s body, while Tshabalala fainted and was assisted by paramedics.
A community member who spoke to Sowetan on condition of anonymity said he was one of the first people to arrive at the scene when Nqobizitha’s body – with multiple stab wounds – was discovered.
“He was stabbed in the neck and all over the body,” said the community member.
He said some of Nqobizitha’s organs were removed.
A member of the community policing forum, Vusi Maseko, said Tshiamo’s body was discovered around 4.30am while Nqobizitha’s was found around 7am. “When we found the little boy (Tshiamo) it was a gruesome scene. His throat was cut open and his testicles removed.” said Maseko.
Nqobizitha and Tshiamo attended Isiseko Primary School in White City and did grade R and 1, respectively. Nqobizitha lived with Tshabalala, while Tshiamo lived with his grandmother Nqobile Ndlovu.
Tshiamo’s father died in 2020 and his mother in 2021.
Tshabalala said when Nqobizitha did not come back home at 5pm, she got worried.
“I went looking for him at Tshiamo’s home but he was not there. I informed neighbours and we started looking for him. We went to open a case at the police station around 8pm... This is painful to accept. He was a sweet boy who was not troublesome,” said Tshabalala.
Ndlovu described Tshiamo as a loving child. “He loved playing and when he wanted something he would cry. He always asked me for R1 to buy sweets,” said Ndlovu.
Ward councillor Papi Chetsanga said there have not been any recent cases of child abductions and mutilations in White City.
Provincial police commissioner Lt-Gen Elias Mawela said police resources have been mobilised to find the perpetrators.
kokam@sowetan.co.za
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