Child friends aged five and six are found murdered with genitals, nose and lips hacked off after they were abducted while playing in the street

• Nqobile Zulu, 5, and Tshiamo Rabanye, 6, were found mutilated in the street 
• Gauteng legislature called for their killers to be found amid serial killer fears

The bodies of two children who were murdered and mutilated were found the morning after the young friends were reported missing by their families.  

Nqobile Zulu, 5, and his friend, Tshiamo Ramanye, 6, disappeared on Wednesday after they had been left by Tshiamo’s grandmother playing in the street in Soweto, South Africa.

Patrollers spent Wednesday night frantically searching for the boys but their bodies were found in separate locations in White City and Rockville on Thursday morning.

The bodies had been mutilated in the appalling attack and the boys were found with their noses, lips and gentials cut off. 

The murders have raised concerns about a serial killer in the area and the police commissioner for Gauteng said they will face the ‘full might of the law’. 

The mutilated bodies of Nqobile Zulu (left), 5, and his friend, Tshiamo Ramanye (right), 6, were found on Thursday morning 

Mourners gather in Rockville to express their grief and pay tribute to the murdered children, as concerns are raised about a possible serial killer

Some locals believe that there may be a serial killer on the loose in the area as it has become less common to find missing children alive. 

DA member of the Guateng Provincial Legislature Crezane Bosch said children were not safe in their communities and that it was crucial that people look out for children. 

‘Far too often, we have been hearing cases of young children who go missing and more often than not, they are found deceased. 

‘This is a clear indication that the lives of our children are at risk and therefore, it is of utmost importance – more than ever – that our communities look out for our children.’ 

She appealed for anyone with information about the deaths of the young boys to come forward. 

‘Violence against children is a scourge that cannot be tolerated in our communities. Let us all work together and report any criminal activity in our communities.’ 

Chairman of the legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Community Safety, Bandile Masuku, said the committee were concerned that such crimes were being committed. 

‘Perpetrators of this gruesome act should be taught the harshest lesson and be made an example that in this country, such horrible acts of crime will not be tolerated.’ 

Gauteng police commissioner Lieutenant General Elias Mawela said he was mobilising resources to track down the perpetrators and that anyone with information should contact the police. 

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi visited the grieving families on Thursday night and described the murders as ‘beyond barbaric’. 

‘What has happened is sickening. It mustn’t be tolerated. The perpetrators must be hunted down,’ he said. 

The grandmother of Tshiamo, Nqobile Ndlovu, could not hold back tears when talking about the death of her grandson, who was in her care following the death of his father in 2020. 

‘What a tragic loss! I am angry; I have lost my grandson. He is the son of my first-born, who died in 2020. 

‘I was consoling myself with this one. I identified him by his clothes. I could not look at him. My sister opened the cover and told me that his throat was slit and his penis is missing,’ she told IOL News. 

‘It is difficult. We are in pain. This has hurt us,’ said Nqobile Zulu’s guardian, Mapiti Shabalala.

‘We don’t have money to bury our child. We are destitute and in need of justice.’

Source: Read Full Article