Pretoria - Ekurhuleni executive mayor Mondli Gungubele has expressed shock and devastation at the gruesome killing of 10-year-old Siphamandla Madikane in Ramaphosa earlier this week.
The half-naked body of little Siphamandla was found in a veld on Monday afternoon and part of his body was badly burnt.
Siphamandla went missing from home on Sunday evening after disappearing with a stranger, who had approached him while playing with friends in the neighbourhood.
"This is shocking. As a parent myself, I cannot even begin to think what the parents are going through right now. In fact, as I got the gory details of the incident, I felt shivers going down my spine wandering how another person can carry out such a brutal attack on a helpless boy," he said.
"What is this world coming to? Less than a month ago, the country was grieving the killing of four toddlers - two in Diepsloot and another two in Zonkizizwe. Now another child is killed in Ramaphosa… this cannot be allowed to go on," said Gungubele.
He appealed to the police to pull out all the stops and find Siphamandla’s killer(s) as soon as possible.
"I have all the confidence in our police service that they will break this case, just like they did in Diepsloot and Zonkizizwe. However, their success heavily relies on the cooperation they receive from members of the community."
Gungubele further appealed to parents to be more vigilant when it comes to the whereabouts of their children and educate their children to avoid talking to strangers, and that parents are always within their proximity. – SAnews.gov.za
