There are indications that the two schoolboys murdered and mutilated in South Africa might have been victims of muti killings where body parts are “stolen to order” for witchdoctors.
Nqobile Zule, 5, and his pal Tshiamo Rabanye, 6, died as a result of bleeding as their noses, lips and genitals were cut off.
Three friends were playing in a park on Wednesday when an intruder struck and one escaped but his best friends both met the most horrific of deaths.
In South Africa, Muti killings involve the removal of parts of the body of the victim which is then used for ritual purposes.
Both Nqobile Zulu, 5, and his friend Tshiamo Rabanye, 6, had their noses, lips and genitals cut off in the most horrific death.
According to a South Africa’s leading forensic psychologist Dr Gerard Labuschagne, the removal of genitals is the hallmark of muti killings and that it is normally before death.
Little Rabanye’s body was found at 4.30am on Thursday morning by a horrified search party in a huge pool of blood and his friend Zulu was found dead nearby at 7am.
The crime has shocked South Africa where muti killings are common place – muti is the Zulu word for medicine – for the making of black magic potions with body parts.
One boy was discovered in White City while the other was found later in Rockville in the Soweto township area of Gauteng Province just outside Johannesburg.
The father of the 5-year-old boy who miraculously escaped said all three were snatched as they played on swings in a park by a fat and a thin man driving a blue car.
The traumatised boy is the sole surviving witness of the double murder.
The dad said:”When he ran in to his mum he was gesturing and saying his friends had their throats slit but she did not believe him till they were reported missing.
“I have no idea how my son managed to escape but the way he explained he saw the men who took them and that they chased after him with a knife.
“He tried to escape and ran and we don’t know how he survived because he is still a young boy but somehow he did and he was able to save himself” he said.
The three boys had been playing on swings in Thokoza Park in Rockville
The African Traditional Medicine Programme in Gauteng Province where the township of Soweto is based condemned the horrific murders immediately.
A spokesman said:”We are traditional health practitioners and not killers but we are fully aware of people doing criminal acts in the name of our sector.
“But we wish to categorically state that we are distancing ourselves from such individuals and acts and that we are doing all we can to help the authorities”.
Gauteng police commissioner Lieutenant General Elias Mawela has mobilised crack teams to track down the perpetrators and promised families swift and quick justice.
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi visited the grieving families and said:”What has happened is beyond barbaric and must not be tolerated – it is just sickening.
