‘I still had hope that I’d see him alive’

BEFORE he went missing on Wednesday last week, fouryear-old Lungisani Ntuli asked his grandmother to burn incense with him.

Although his grandmother, Famasi Ngema, 75, is a traditionalist, she was stunned by the boy’s bizarre request, but promised him that they would burn it later that evening. But it was not to be.

Incense is used in many traditional communities by those who believe it can help them to connect with their ancestors.

Three hours later, Lungisani was nowhere to be found.

He had been playing with friends near his home in Ncotshane village near Pongola in northern Kwa-Zulu-Natal.

His friends claimed that he had gone with a man selling sugar cane who had promised to give him sweets.

When the sun set and there was no sign of the boy, panic set in. His mother, Bongiwe Ntuli, 33, who works for a local supermarket, was alerted and rushed home. A search for the missing boy began.

For three days the community scoured the area, including nearby sugar-cane fields.

A day after his disappearance, his mother walked past the St John’s Apostolic Faith Mission church — where her son’s body was found two days later.

The son of church pastor Fanyana Nkosi reportedly stumbled on a black plastic bag in the church in which the boy’s mutilated body was found. He had been decapitated.

“He just looked like a doll,” said his mother. “I don’t understand why someone would kill my child so callously.”

“I still had hope that I would see my grandchild alive, but it was never to be,” said Famasi Ngema.—