Bodies found dumped near Covid-19 informal settlement not those of missing men
Cape Town - The police in the Western Cape are appealing to families with missing relatives to come forward.
This after the recovery of the bodies of two men, yet to be identified, from a river that runs along the Covid-19 informal settlement in Driftsands.
The bodies were found over the weekend during a search for four young men allegedly thrown into the stream after being assaulted by a group of people in a mob justice attack.
Police spokesperson Novela Potelwa said for three days police divers and Mfuleni police officials had been scouring the area for the missing young men aged between 15 and 23.
Potelwa said they were reported missing by family members between Saturday and Sunday evening.
She said eye witness accounts indicated the four men were assaulted by a group of people and thrown into the water.
On Saturday evening, the search party retrieved the first body, and the second was recovered on Sunday afternoon.
Potelwa said the three families who opened missing persons’ cases with Mfuleni police over the weekend confirmed on Monday that the bodies recovered on Saturday and Sunday were not those of their relatives.
She said the divers resumed their search on Monday morning, searching a seven kilometre area along the river. The search will continue again on Tuesday.
Sindiswa Wanga, 40, the mother of Asonele, 15, one of the victims, said she was told her son was beaten to death and thrown into the river.
Wanga said she last saw her son on Friday, before they heard of his death on Facebook on Saturday.
She admitted he was involved in "criminal activities".
Nangamso Mazamisa, a sister of Maphelo, another alleged mob justice victim, said her mother told her not to report the case to the police because they did not have money to bury him.
Potelwa said as the police investigated the circumstances surrounding the death of the two men whose bodies were recovered, Detective Sergeant Magqaza could be contacted on 082 777 6898.
sisonke.mlamla@inl.co.za