A 12-year-old boy with a disability went missing from his home in Orange Farm, and his body was discovered a week later in a nearby stream. His family believes faster police action might have prevented the tragedy. They received messages from someone claiming to hold the child during the search.
On Thursday, 28 February, 12-year-old Sanele Gontsana wandered away from his home in Mshengu township, Orange Farm, about 40km south of Johannesburg. Sanele, who could not speak due to a disability that also delayed his development and left him small for his age, was prone to wandering. His mother, Beatrice Gontsana, searched the area after learning he had left a nearby friend's house. She checked local spots like a garage but found no trace, then filed a missing person's report at the police station.
Police assisted in a search that night but did not return afterward. The family says officers promised a K9 unit but never deployed it, and they declined a door-to-door search without a court order. 'Everything I wanted them to do as Sanele’s mother was never done. I feel like I have been failed,' Beatrice said.
During the search, Beatrice received messages in isiXhosa from an unknown person claiming to have Sanele. One read: 'Ingako ngeke ngimbulala angsiyona mbulali, ngingudriver kuphela' (I won’t kill him, I’m not a murderer, I’m just a driver). The sender asked for the family's location and R200 for petrol to return the boy, but ignored requests for proof. Communication continued until Wednesday, then stopped, with a final message on Thursday claiming Sanele had laboured breathing.
Later that day, 5 March, a neighbour alerted the family to a body in a stream near a railway track, a few kilometres from home. Sanele's naked body, partially burnt, with a broken arm and missing teeth, was found wearing only the shoes from the day he vanished. His father, Erik Gontsana, said: 'We searched this area many times, but he was not there. I knew very well they dumped his body that very day.'
The family noted a nearby house with surveillance cameras but said police have not secured the footage. Beatrice informed police of the messages, but a detective suggested it might be an extortion attempt. The family awaits postmortem results. Daily Maverick sought comment from the South African Police Service but received none by publication.