Police are searching for the bodies of four youngsters who were apparently beaten up and then drowned in a mob justice attack.
The Daily Voice tracked down relatives of two victims – Maphelo Mazamisa, 23, and 15-year-old Asonele Wanga.
The other two are said to be 13-year-old twins.
The four were accused of housebreaking in Extension 6 and when caught by residents, they were moered and then dumped into a nearby stream.
A relative of Maphelo, Odwa Bidli, says on Saturday morning around 8am, he was woken up by a noise.
“I got up and when I checked in my yard, there were a lot of people assaulting Maphelo.
“They went into his shack and they took everything out and then they left with him,” he says.
“I shouted to him that if he has what they are looking for, he must just give them.
“But he denied any knowledge of the burglary.”
Odwa says minutes later, he saw four people being beaten up.
“After hitting one person, they threw him in the river behind the hokkies.
“I watched as Maphelo took his last breath because after he was thrown into the river, he came back up, but they hit him with a brick on his head and then he sank.”
Asonele’s heartbroken mom Sindiswa Wanga, 40, admits to the Daily Voice that her son was “stout”.
She says after they were informed about the incident, they went to the police to report it.
“We drove with the police to the scene and when we got there, we couldn’t find the bodies.
“The police divers were called in and then hours later a body was found.”
She says that they rushed over to identify the body but were shocked to see it was a stranger.
“It was none of the boys who were beaten, it was a grown man who looked like he could’ve been in his 40s.
“His hands and feet were tied with wire,” she says.
SAPS’ Novela Potelwa says Mfuleni police are probing the claims of the mob justice attack while the youth are still missing.
She confirmed that the body of an unknown man –not linked to the youth – was retrieved from the water early on Saturday evening, while another body was found yesterday afternoon.
However, the identity of the person was not made known immediately.
“Another body was recovered from the water by divers on Sunday afternoon. “Police will continue with the search,” said Potelwa.