By Doreen Mokgolo
The man charged with the kidnapping and murder of two young children in Mpumalanga was on good terms with their families, and they trusted him with their kids.
Siviwe Thulari,18, helped both families as they searched for their missing children.
When the aunt of one of the murdered children asked him why he had murdered them, he allegedly answered that he did it to spite the families.
Three-year-old Peaceful Khoza went missing on Wednesday afternoon while playing with her cousins at her home in Pienaar, near Mbombela. Thulari was said to be good friends with her father, Thomas Khoza.
Peaceful was last seen alive by a neighbour walking with Thulari, and a community search led to the gruesome discovery on Thursday of her burned body in a shallow grave behind an abandoned RDP house.
The body of six-year-old Junior Mabandla, who went missing early last month – and lived just a few houses away from the Khoza family – was exhumed from a graveyard in the early hours of Thursday morning. He had been buried on top of another body.
In an interview with Scrolla.Africa, Peaceful’s aunt, Khethiwe Khoza, said when people started searching for her, a neighbour told them that they had seen her with Thulari, but they didn’t think he would hurt her.
“We treated him like one of us; we believed our children were safe in his presence,” she said
“We grew worried when we couldn’t get hold of him and started searching. Another neighbour told us he saw him burning dirt behind an abandoned RDP house in the Ncakini section.”
Khoza said Thulari’s uncle managed to reach him, but when he came to help with the search for her niece, he had changed the clothes he had been seen wearing earlier when he was with Peaceful.
“When searching the RDP house, we found two footprints, one of an adult and the other of a minor.
“The community started interrogating him, and while searching the yard, we identified a part where the ground felt freshly dug. I started digging, and I could feel there was something underneath …” the aunt said.
Khoza said she was traumatised and angry because their families had trusted Thulari enough to allow him into their homes.
“He is a monster and doesn’t deserve to be part of society; he deserves to be hanged and feel the pain that he put the two children through,” she said.
Provincial SAPS spokesperson Colonel Donald Mdhluli confirmed that the suspect had been charged with two counts of kidnapping and murder.
“He is in a critical condition in hospital after he was assaulted by the community and is under police guard,” he added.
Pictured above: Peaceful Khoza.
Source: Doreen Mokgolo
