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Two where body parts are ‘stolen to order’ for witchdoctors.
Three young pals were kidnapped in Soweto on Wednesday as they played in a park and one escaped but his best friends both met the most horrific of deaths.
Muti killings involve the removal of body parts while the victim is traditionally still alive which are then taken to ‘sangomas’ to provide potions for their clients.
The blood drenched bodies of Nqobile Zulu, 5, and his friend Tshiamo Rabamue, 6, were both found with stab wounds and their throats slit and they had their genitals, noses and lips cut off.
South Africa’s leading forensic psychologist Dr Gerard Labuschagne confirmed the removal of genitals is the hallmark of muti killings and that it is normally before death.
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
Little Rabanye’s body was found at 4. Here is more on evDen eVe nAkLiyat take a look at our webpage. 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 sick background to muti killings was explained after 5 people were arrested for abducting and mutilating Bontle Mashiyane, 6, in Mpumalanga province.
The schoolgirl had been seized in Mganduzweni near White River on April 30, 2022, and her decomposing body was found to have had many body parts cut from her.
Tragic Bontle Moshiyane, 6, eVDEn EVE nAkliYat who was abducted and mutilated for body parts in Mganduzweni, Mpumulang Province, South Africa, in April 2022
Residents of Rockville, Soweto, where the two victims lived overlook the open field where one of the mutiated victims was found as South Africa Police contain the scene
Most sangomas or traditional healers often known as witch doctors are law abiding and abhor muti killings but confirm amongst them that there are those who are ‘evil’.
After the recovery of tragic Bontle’s body the provisional police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala told City Express how muti killings were carried out.
He said: ‘The majority of perpetrators confirm they harvest the body organs while the victim is still alive and these operations involve more than one person.
‘However the sangoma is the key person in all of this.
‘Muti killings are incredibly gruesome as victims are dismembered while alive and sangomas order genitals, fingers, hands, kneecaps, tongues and eyes.
‘The common trait among the killers was that they held a strong belief in the power of muti made from human organs and EvDEn EvE NAkliyAt that they are not very well educated.
‘The chain is a client then the sangoma and then their harvester who is the murderer then the victim and the killers are paid according to parts they get’ he said.
The community where little Nqobile and Tshiamo were so horrifically murdered and mutilated is demanding swift justice from the police to find the killers.
Zulu’s mother Nomthandazo and grandmother Mapiti Tshabalala asked to see the body before it was taken away and his mum collapsed and gran fainted.
Zulu lived with his gran Mapiti and Rabanye lived with his gran Nqobile Ndlovu and both went to Isiseko Primary School in White City and were close friends.
Forensic psychologist Dr Gerard Labuschagne the former head of the SA Police Service Psychology Unit has written extensively on muti murders in South Africa.
He has carried out over 30 muti investigations and said three links are usually involved – the client, the traditional healer or sangoma and the murderer or murderers.
