A Soweto couple accused of kidnapping, killing and mutilating the bodies of two children is back in the Protea North magistrate’s court on Friday.
The boys, Nqobizitha Zulu and his cousin Tshiamo Rabanye, aged five and six, were playing with a friend when they were snatched by unknown men in an unidentified vehicle in April.
Their bodies, with missing private parts, noses and lips, were found the following day a few kilometres away from each other at Thokoza Park in Rockville, Soweto.
In the dock is 50-year-old Nqobile Ndlovu, grandmother to Tshiamo, and her 39-year-old partner Mthunzi Zulu. The couple faces charges of perjury, defeating the ends of justice, kidnapping and murder.
They first appeared in court on Friday last week, the day a joint funeral was held for the boys.
The boys’ murder led to an outcry across the province and the Gauteng provincial legislature’s portfolio committee on community safety joined Soweto residents to call for a speedy arrest of the culprits.
The committee said at the time: “Though at this stage the motive of the abduction and gruesome murder is unknown, the committee remains concerned that in this day and age, there are still people in our communities who can still commit such heinous crimes, especially against children who are amongst the most vulnerable in our society.”
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