It is a devastating entry into the new year for the family in Makwane, Free State, who have discovered a body suspected to be their long lost brother buried in their backyard.
The family realised that the ground at spot on their yard was sinking and rushed to Makwane police station to report that something might be buried on their property.
The police dug up the secret grave and discovered a human skull, jeans and a soccer T-shirt. One of the family members said the clothing items belonged to their brother who had been missing since 2021. The missing man was a Lesotho citizen.
Free State police spokesperson Mmako Mophiring told Sunday World that a soiled rug from the same house was also found in the grave.
Even more suspicious, Mophiring said the family never reported their kin as a missing person. He said the family did not reported him as missing because he had the tendency of disappearing for long periods before returning home.
“The postmortem will be conducted [and the] process takes long because we need to find out who’s the person and whether they are male or female, and whether the person is the young man [the family] claim to be their brother,” Mophiring said.
“An inquest has been opened to determine the cause of death.”
Postmortem to be conducted
He said no arrests have been made yet as police investigations continue.
“If it happens that it is their brother, then the question would be who ‘killed him and for what reasons’,” Mophiring added.
Makwane is a large village east of the town of Phuthaditjhaba in Maluti-a-Phofung municipality. It also known as the original hometown of Free State Stars football club, which was founded in 1977 as Makwane Computer Stars before it was renamed.
