The body of a child and a skeleton were discovered together outside Modimolle, Limpopo police said on Wednesday. Superintendent Malesela Ledwaba said the discovery was made about 4pm on Tuesday by passers-by.
Ledwaba said the corpse was ”in an advanced state of decomposition, was half naked and appeared to be of a girl aged between nine and 12 years. The corpse seemed to have been at the scene for more than a week.
”The skeleton, which was buried in a shallow grave, seemed to have been at the scene for more than a year.”
Ledwaba said forensic experts were on the scene. Police could not yet say whether the cases were related.
Ledwaba said six children have disappeared from Phagameng in Modimolle in the past 18 months, five of them this year. Two were found dead and the rest are still missing.
Police have not yet been able to link either the body or the skeleton to any of the missing children.
The most recent disappearance was that of Kedibone Shiburi (9), who went missing in Modimolle on July 14. She was last seen when her friends left her at a shop.
Five days later, Modimolle residents assaulted Pakistani shopkeepers, accusing them of abducting Kedibone.
On March 28, three children disappeared the same day. They were Petros Malete (11) and his sister Rosina (8), and their friend Joshua Chauke (11). ”Seemingly they were together when they went missing,” said Ledwaba.
Petros and Rosina were later found dead. A murder case was opened and a suspect, Lucas Mothiba (30) was arrested during April. He has been in custody since then. ”We don’t have an indication as to what the motive was,” said Ledwaba.
In February, Johanna Mabunda (13) disappeared.
In January last year, Nono Lefawana (8) went missing. — Sapa
Ledwaba appealed to anyone with missing relatives or information on the cases to contact Captain Malesela Mogale on Tel: 082 565 8606