Africa-Press – South-Africa. We’re still in shock. We don’t know what to make of his death.”
These were the words of Thato Masikane after the decomposed body of her younger brother, Tshiamo, was found hanging in a forest in Rustenburg, North West, three weeks after he went missing.
Police don’t suspect foul play, and an inquest case has been opened.
Speaking to News24 on Tuesday, Masikane said 17-year-old Tshiamo’s death left the family in a state of disbelief.
“We’re still trying to grapple with the situation. We don’t know what to make of his death, and we have so many questions,” she said.
Masikane said her brother had gone to a party with friends on 1 January and when he returned, asked to use their mother’s phone.
“To mama’s concern, Tshiamo was in possession of her phone for a long time. When mama asked him what he was doing with her phone, he didn’t give a direct answer but notified her that he would return her phone shortly,” she said.
She continued: “Mama then got more annoyed seeing that Tshiamo wasn’t bringing her phone. When she finally decided to take her phone from Tshiamo, she realised that he had downloaded phone tracking apps. She then asked if he had lost his phone, and he said he didn’t lose it.”
“He continued to deny that he lost his phone, and mama stopped questioning him,” said Masikane.
She said Tshiamo had left home to buy airtime for their mother’s phone, and that was the last time they saw him.
Tshiamo never returned from the shops. The family asked friends and relatives if they had seen him, but no one had.
Masikane said the family worked with the police and an organisation for missing children to find Tshiamo. They made posters and distributed them among the community and on social media.
However, they could not find him.
On 21 January, a passerby found a body hanging on a tree in Cashan and notified authorities.
Masikane said her cousin received a call from the fire department at around 06:00 that day, telling her they had found a body.
“As soon as she heard the news, she contacted me.”
She continued:
Masikane said the officer then took a picture of the body and took it to them.
Tshiamo was wearing black skinny jeans, a red long-sleeved shirt and colourful sneakers when he went missing.
“From the picture we could not recognise him – his body was badly decomposed – but we recognised his clothes,” said Masikane.
While police conducted tests to check if it was Tshiamo’s body, the family, desperate for answers, consulted a private laboratory, which confirmed on Monday that the body belonged to Tshiamo.
Police have not released their results yet.
At the time of his death, Tshiamo was due to start Grade 12 at Kitsong School in Phokeng.
According to Masikane, he loved watching European football, listening to music, and trading foreign exchange. He had hopes of being a soccer player.
She said his death affected not only their family, but the community, and people had been visiting their home to offer support and pay their respects.
Masikane said:
North West police spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Adele Myburgh, said they did not suspect foul play.
She further added that the police were still investigating.
“It is difficult at this stage to say what the cause of his death was. We are having an inquest to determine the cause of his death. The fact that we do not suspect foul play means we do not think at this stage that it was somebody else who caused his death. Otherwise, it would’ve been a murder and not an inquest case,” said Myburgh.
Tshiamo will be buried on Saturday in Phokeng near Rustenburg.
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