Durban — The family of slain 7-year-old boy Philasande Shange from Ntshawini in KwaDukuza said they had had to leave their home out of fear. They said they had not yet buried him.
This is after the family received a string of SMSes telling them where to go to collect the body parts of their son on different occasions.
Shange went missing earlier this year on January 5 after he had been sent by a neighbour to buy onions. He brought back the onions and was never seen again.
The family first found his leg and head after receiving an SMS that directed them to where the body parts were. Shange’s mother, Philile Shange, said they had left Ntshawini and relocated to another area.
Philile told the Daily News that it was hard for them as a family as life had not been the same since their son went missing.
One of the threatening SMSes read: “Another child between those you are bewitching will be killed. You all know who you bewitched. I know that the kids attend school at Mandeni.”
She added that when her son went missing she was employed on a contract basis, but she had to resign. She said that what made things worse was that they had not buried him.
“I would like to bury my son, even though we did not receive all his parts. It has been too long now,” said Philile.
She added that they had found a piece of land but they did not have money to start building a home.
The Daily News reported in February that the Shange family had said they were waiting for DNA results so that they could continue making funeral arrangements, even though some of Philasande’s body parts were missing.
The family had received threatening messages before that. An SMS gave the family two weeks, but they said it was not clear whether that was for them to pack and leave in the area or bury their son.
The family said the motive for the killing was not known.
The aerial search conducted by Reaction Unit South Africa (Rusa) for the body parts in late January yielded no results.
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